A Mess of his own making
by Matthew G Given
Summary: A fun little season 3 SnowBarry AU. When Barry Allen returns to his original time line after Flash point he finds that more things have changed then he thought and it has a very personal impact on his life. I am a new Flash fan and this is my first attempt at fan fiction in this universe so any and all feedback is welcome. This story will last until I run out of ideas. Enjoy! :)
1. Chapter 1

**First off a special thank you to Write-to-you for helping me come up with this idea and encouraging me to write it down as a fun way to get back into writing fan fiction after so long away during one of our little chats, thank you.**

 **Second I have no idea how long this story will go on for, it's just a little idea I thought was funny and so I am writing it down and I hope others will have fun with it too, that is all I am hoping to get out of it.**

 **Third at the moment I have no internet of any kind at my home and I can't look up half this stuff at the library before writing it at home, so if I misspell a name or get the name of a place wrong or something like that, well feel free to correct me in the reviews, just know I only get into the library about once a week or so, so I will not be able to respond to reviews until then and I will not be able to see them and use them to edit chapters until then as well. That being said, please leave reviews, because I will read them, even if it seems that I am not.**

 **Description: Barry returns from Flashpoint in episode 302, only to discover even more has changed then even happened on the show. This is a SnowBarry story simply because I find it a little creepy on the show that Joe keeps calling Barry his "Son" and yet he is dating Iris, Iris is one of my favorite characters but I find that a little creepy, also I like the character of Caitlin Snow. So just assume the romance that was built up in the first two seasons was between Barry and Caitlin not Barry and Iris, if you can do that I think you will enjoy this silly little story.**

 **Oh and I don't own The Flash or any of the related characters, and am not making any money off of them, this is just a bit of fun for me in my free time.**

 **A mess of his own making**

 **By**

 **Matthew G. Given**

 **Chapter 1**

Barry Allen knew he had not made the best impression upon his entrance into "The Foundry" when he saw the hundred or so pieces of paper that Felicity Smoak had been working on at her desk go flying and heard her let out a rather pathetic "No." as he skidded to a stop, ending his six hundred plus mile dash at super speed, still that just put him on par for how he had been handling the rest of the day, or was it his life? Thus far. He only hoped the blonde computer hacker would still be in a mood to hear him out after he had messed up what looked like a long night's work for her, because he needed to talk to someone who wasn't directly involved in the mess he helped create if he was ever going to calm down and figure out what to do about it, and she was the only person he could think of at that moment who he could do that with.

"Sorry" Barry began weakly and then he started to ramble on at super speed, looking more and more panicked and upset as he went along. "It's just I get back here and I find out even when I tried to fix things so much has changed, I am not sure if I can, or should put it back together, and after I made some sort of peace with the fact that Zoom murdered Caitlin, it is now my dad who was murdered and that is one of the little things that has changed, and it's all my fault!" He was now pacing back and forth and running his hands through his hair as he spoke.

"Okay, wait and calm down." Felicity said as she turn in her swivel chair to face the distraught Barry, trying her best to wrap her brain around everything he had just thrown at her. "That was fast and made no sense, even to me, and after some of the things I have seen being here that is saying something." She rambled, trying to remain calm herself and then added with some alarm. "Wait, are you saying Caitlin's dead?!"

"No, at least not any more." Barry explained turning to face her and he tried to remember that she had no idea what he was talking about. Felicity let him continue as he seemed just as panicked as before but at least he seemed to be slowing down when he talked and trying to explain things. "Normally I would count that as a good thing but I find out that my dad is dead, and I am still coming to grips with that, so I really don't know how to feel about any of this. It's just so confusing and I have no idea how to deal with any of it." Barry through his hands up in the air as he finished.

"Alright." Felicity said in a soothing voice trying to keep Barry calm, she still wasn't sure what he was talking about, but she knew it couldn't be as bad as Barry was making it out to be. Barry Allen may have had a bad habit of blaming himself for everything that went wrong in the lives of those around him, but she also knew that he was a kind and sweet young man and wouldn't do anything on purpose to hurt those around him, she just needed to remind him of that. She decided the best way to do this was to have him bring her up to speed and explain just what in the world he was jabbering about, so that is what she did. "Okay, take a deep breath and then slowly explain to me what happened, and remember I have no idea what you are talking about." She instructed and this seemed to do the trick, as Barry seemed to calm down, at least on the outside, and he slowly started to explain.

"Okay, well I just couldn't take it any more, you know? Being The Flash, Caitlin dying, and then the way everyone looked at me when I lost control and murdered Zoom after I defeated him in the race." Barry said as he sat down in a chair opposite Felicity, his voice breaking. "I mean everyone was just standing there after I pounded Zoom's skull in and looking at me like I was some kind of monster, but in the moment I couldn't let him get away with murdering Caitlin, there was blood all over my gloves, and I didn't even care."

"Wait, you killed someone, on purpose, when you had another choice?" Felicity asked, clearly shocked.

"Yeah." Barry admitted as he put his head in his hands, his voice tinted with shame. "The worst part was that killing Zoom wasn't the part that bothered me, it was the way everyone looked at me. I just wanted all the pain to end and that look to go away, so I just ran away without saying a word, went back in time to the place where everything started to go wrong and stopped Reverse Flash from killing my mom, and in that time line I didn't have to deal with being the Flash. Of course Caitlin and I never met, but she was alive, so that was good enough for me, at least until a new evil speedster named The Rival showed up and I needed her help, but since she didn't know me and I acted with out thinking I kind of kidnapped her."

"Wait in this other timeline, you kidnapped Caitlin?" Felicity asked, once again shocked, she couldn't believe it was the Barry Allen she knew who had done all these things.

"Well kind of." Barry said sheepishly.

"How do you kind of kidnap someone?" Felicity asked fixing Barry with a hard stare.

"Well I was putting the old team back together to stop The Rival and I knew we needed her help so I kind of just grabbed her from her job as a child's eye doctor and brought her to S.T.A.R labs without thinking." Barry continued to explain and he suddenly looked very uncomfortable in his chair.

"Well please at least tell me you didn't tell her about your relationship with her in this time line, because coming from a creepy kidnapper who took her to his secret lab, that would not go over very well." Felicity said, hoping that Barry had at least that much common sense and then she added. "Plus didn't she go through enough of that sort of thing with Zoom?"

"Yeah, of course I didn't, I just used her to help me find The Rival, I'm not a complete moron." Barry replied defensively, this statement simply earned him a look from Felicity that seemed to say "Oh, Really?!", but he couldn't focus on that at that moment he needed to get to the end of the story fast or he felt like he would explode. "Well someone got hurt and things got a lot worse in that Flashpoint time line, so I let the Reverse Flash go back and murder my mom, again, to reset everything, but now most things are back to the way they were, but some are not."

"Wait, how can that happen?" Felicity asked, clearly puzzled. "I mean if you reset everything, things should be back to exactly how they were before Flashpoint."

"I don't know, I thought I understood how time travel works, but clearly I don't." Barry sighed as he banged his hands down on the armrest of the chair.

"Okay." Felicity said after taking a deep breath. "So why don't you walk me through step by step what changed and why it is so much worse than Flashpoint or the time line where Caitlin died?"

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Barry asked concerned.

"No." Felicity admitted. "But you clearly need to talk through this and now I will not be able to sleep tonight unless I know what has changed, so go ahead."

"Okay, but I am warning you this is where it gets really complicated and it ends with this." Barry said as he held up his hand and showed Felicity a golden wedding ring on his ring finger.

 **Okay that was chapter one, sorry it was so short but I wanted something short and quick to get back into the swing of thing and hopefully I will be posting chapter two with this chapter.**

 **Any and all feedback is welcome as I am new to Flash fandom having just become a fan over the summer, and I am trying to write everyone in character.**

 **Thanks for reading and once again a very special thank you to Write-to-you, she is the one who convinced me to try my hand at Flash fan fiction in general and this story in particular.**

 **Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading.**

 **Okay, so I found myself lost while writing chapter 31, I still have the plan for this story but I just need to get myself back up to speed on it, pardon that phrasing, so I am doing final edits of all of my other chapters before moving on to that one. Here I changed a bit of the dialog to make it sound more natural and less like exposition, hope you like it. I will try to get one or two chapters edited a day before moving on to doing a new chapter every day until this story is done.**

 **Thanks for reading, you guys are the best.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _*Flashback, Barry telling the story to Felicity*_

Barry Allen stood for the longest time on the porch of the West residents, where the Reverse Flash had left him before speeding off to do whatever it was Reverse Flashes got up to when they were not making Barry Allen's life a living hell, unsure if he was ready to set foot inside his home. Strangely enough as he stood there breathing in the cold night air, it wasn't Caitlin's death that was bothering him, somehow seeing her alive and well, even if it was in a time line where she thought he was a creep of the first order who had kidnapped her, had brought him a kind of peace and while he still would never be okay with what had happened, he could live with it and move on. No, it was the looks everyone had given him when he had killed Zoom that were bothering him at that moment, that hadn't been part of the plan and he wasn't sure he could stand seeing those same looks of shock and horror that he had seen on their faces earlier that night yet again, and he was sure he wasn't in the right frame of mind for one of Joe's lectures on the subject of killing for revenge.

What made things worse was that the only defense Barry had for his actions was something that he was sure no one else would understand. He was going to stick to the plan and let Zoom live, he hadn't gone in planning to become a killer, but then Zoom had said something that had caused him to lose all control and before he knew what he was doing Barry was repeatedly speed punching the monster in the face so fast and so hard that not even the evil speedster's rapid healing ability was able to cope, and the next thing Barry knew Zooms face and skull were nothing but a bloody puddle on the pavement, he was dead and Barry had killed someone on purpose when he had another option for the first time in his life. Barry couldn't defend that action except to say that in the heat of the moment Zoom's taunt of "See I would have killed for her, that is why she belonged with me!", had cut him so deeply he had lost all control and no one had the power to pull him back and make him take a breath. Zoom had baited him, and he had fallen for it, he had become Zoom for a moment, lashing out in pure rage because of his loss. This was what Barry Allen was now finding himself having trouble making peace with and why for the first time in over a year he was regretting moving back into the West family home, at least if he had his own place he could have stayed and stewed there for a while and waited for things to cool down. Still he didn't and he knew he would have to face the music at some point so he may as well get it over with, so with his head down he slowly and quietly opened the front door and stepped inside.

Much to his shock he wasn't greeted with looks of judgment by Joe, Iris, and Wally, instead Joe and Wally were the only ones standing in the living room and they both had looks of understanding and pity on their faces and were holding beers in their hands. Barry made his way over to where they were standing in front of the couch in the living room.

"Hey, I was hoping you would come here at some point." Joe said gravely as he handed Barry a beer. "We heard you dashed out of your apartment without saying a word and you were not answering your cell."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Barry said as he took the beer and put on his best poker face, which wasn't a very good one, and pretended to know what on earth Joe was babbling about. He had his own apartment, why would resetting the time line cause that to happen and where in Central City was it, it wasn't like he could just ask without giving the game away and he knew that the fewer people knew that he had time traveled, the better. So now he not only had to deal with his conflicting emotions, but he had the problem of figuring out where he lived and how to get there on top of it. Suddenly he wished that the beer he had just taken from Joe's hand could get him drunk, very drunk, he felt like he needed to be plastered to deal with this on top of his conflicting emotions.

"Hey, it's okay. You just lost your dad, and sometimes a guy just needs some alone time after something like that, we understand, right dad?" Wally said as he looked from Barry and then to Joe.

"Yeah, still you had someone very worried and you will have to explain it to her." Joe replied with a sad half smile.

Wait, did they say his dad was dead? This news hit Barry like a freight train, what had he done? By changing the time line he had now caused he dad to be murdered by Zoom in addition to Caitlin?, this was all too much for Barry and he sank down onto the sofa and began to cry. What had he done, by trying to save his mom, he had killed his dad, how could he live with this?

Joe sat down beside him while Wally remained standing. "It's okay, just let it all out." Joe said in a soothing voice and so for the next few minutes Barry did, then with a sniff he wiped his eyes and stood up. If there was one thing going back in time and his time in the Speedforce had taught him, it was that he had to move on from loss, not all at once, but he couldn't dwell on it and he couldn't let it control him or he would become like Zoom, more then he already had.

"You okay?" Wally asked clearly concerned and Barry had to wonder where Iris was, still that was a question that could wait for a few minutes when he was in a calmer frame of mind.

"Yeah, I am good." Barry half lied, again like with Caitlin somehow spending time with his dad in Flashpoint had helped him make some sort of peace with what had happened. He wasn't feeling great but he felt like he could get over it, at some point, if one could ever get over the fact that one's time travel had mistakenly killed one's father.

"To Henry." Joe said as he raised his bottle in a toast and Barry was too numb to do anything other then clink his bottle against Joe's along with Wally and join in the toast and then take a swig of the beer, despite the fact that it did nothing to him. He had to wonder why Joe hadn't included Caitlin in the toast, didn't she deserve to be included, or had she and Barry not been together in this strange new time line he had created.

Still then another thought interrupted his thoughts about Caitlin and it was out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about it. "Where's Iris?" He asked and this caused Joe's face to just go stoic and just a little bit angry if Barry was any judge.

"I am going to chalk that up to grief." Joe said firmly and then placed his bottle on the coffee table and then he turned and without saying a word he left the room in the direction of his bedroom.

For a horrifying second a confused Barry had to wonder if Iris was dead as well in this time line, that was until Wally stepped in and set him straight. "How could you ask that?" Wally demanded with a look that was a little angry but also sad. "You know Iris and dad don't talk." Barry nodded, pretending to understand what Wally was talking about, something told Barry this was going to be his default reaction to everything for a while, that and guilt. "Maybe it's time for you to go home." Wally said and Barry nodded yet again before placing his beer on the coffee table and turning and leaving the house.

It was only after he had walked about one block that Barry was struck by a very practical thought, he had no idea where his home was now, so how was he supposed to find it? He quickly opened his wallet and checked his I.D, but the move must have been recent he reasoned because he had not updated his I.D and it still had his old address of the West home listed on it. He walked another couple of blocks at a normal pace trying to make sense of everything he had learned from Joe and Wally while at the same time trying to figure out how to find out where he lived without giving away the fact that he had time traveled and risking damaging the time line more then he already had. He was getting tired and all he knew was that he really wanted to lay down on a nice soft bed, but how was he supposed to when he didn't have a clue as to where said bed was located? That was when a thought hit him and it was so brilliant Barry felt almost pleased with himself for coming up with it. The precinct! They would have up to date personal information in his personal file, including his current address, all he had to do was dash inside at super speed, get a quick look at it, and then dash on home, it was brilliant and yet so simple he couldn't believe he had not thought of it sooner.

So a few short minutes latter a very tired but pleased with himself Barry Allen was standing outside a third floor apartment in a nice enough section of town, trying several keys on his key chain on the door's lock before finding the right one and stepping into his apartment ready to catch some well earned Zs. That was when he noticed the living area he stepped into and he was again hit with questions that would keep him up at night, there were books and movies on the shelves that clearly were not his, and there were pictures in frames scattered across the room. Barry was not a pictures in frames type of guy and while he didn't take a good look at them, still the fact that they were there was enough to have him asking once again, "What on earth was going on?"

That was when he heard a sound coming from his left hand side and turned to face what he assumed was the door leading to the bedroom and he heard a voice call out something about being thankful he was home, he wasn't sure, he was too much in a state of shock looking at what was coming towards him to think, say, or do anything. Rushing towards him clad in pajamas and a pink robe was the form of Caitlin Snow, so she was alive! This filled Barry with so much joy that for a moment he forgot his father was dead and when she pulled him into a hug, he returned it and when she tried to pull away he didn't want to let her go.

"I was so worried about you, never do anything like that again." Caitlin said as she wiped a tear from her eye and slapped his chest.

"I'm sorry, believe me I will not." Was all Barry could manage to reply weakly as his eyes filled with tears of his own, maybe things would turn out alright after all, he had a lot of things to fix but something had turned out better, and who knew maybe he could fix what had gone wrong. When he finally let Caitlin pull away though that was when a thought struck him, she shouldn't be here! As overjoyed as he was to see her the last he remembered was that they had both agreed that they wouldn't live together until when or if they got married, so what was she doing in an apartment that was too big for him alone acting as if she owned the place? That was when he noticed it and all his joy began to slip away, he couldn't believe he hadn't notice it before and he knew this one little detail was about to make his life a lot more complicated and it could cause Caitlin a lot of pain and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Barry Allen looked at his ring finger and noticed a simple gold wedding ring on it and then he looked over at Caitlin and noticed that she had a matching ring on her own ring finger, how could he have missed this detail, he was a CSI for crying out loud!

This made things a lot more complicated, he was married to Caitlin and he didn't know a thing about it! How was he supposed to get through this without giving the game away or hurting her? After all he knew nothing about this, this was getting a bit thick and he had no idea how he was going to get out of this trouble. All he knew was that it was a mess of his own making and he had to find a way to clean it up without Caitlin or anyone else getting hurt, he clearly had his work cut out for him.

 **Well that was chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed it. Now that the set up is out of the way in the next chapter we will get into more of the awkward comedy that will be Barry trying to make sense of the situation and we will have the start of a mystery slash adventure story.** **So daily updates are back starting with this for real this time. I got things sorted in my life and so after playing catch up new chapters will be coming every day and yes I know it has been a year, sorry.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this and as always any and all feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _ ***Flashback continues**_ _*_

To say that the night that followed passed awkwardly, would have been the biggest understatement since someone was once heard to say "I think we may be in a little bit of trouble" after the Titanic struck that iceberg. To start with every time Caitlin tried to get close to him and comfort him Barry felt like the right thing to do was to back away, it wasn't that he wasn't used to being close to her, he had been about to ask her to marry him before Zoom murdered her in the other time line after all. No, it was just like he felt like he was a stranger in this life and to let her get close would be taking advantage of her, after all he was not "Him", he wasn't the man she had married, at least not exactly and he didn't have any of the memories of their life together, so he didn't feel he had the right to get close to her. He had made one excuse after another, but he could tell she knew something was off, at last it was time for bed but that presented a whole new set of problems.

The bedroom was a big problem, there was only one bed and at first Barry had gotten in on the wrong side of it, Caitlin's side. He managed to play this off as a mixture of confusion brought on by grief and it just being the end of a very long day for him, but it didn't make getting to sleep any easier. Barry's first instinct had been to sleep on the coach, since he had never slept in the same bed as Caitlin before, but he knew that would give the game away, so at last he tried to settle down and get some much needed sleep on his side of the bed. This however presented new problems, first there was the general problem of his not being used to the bed in question, it takes quite a while for a fellow to get to sleep on a mattress he has never slept on before, and that night was no exception to the rule, Barry tossed and turned trying to get comfortable, and when at last he did the problem of Caitlin being sound asleep beside him reared it's ugly head.

Part of Barry liked and took comfort in the fact that she was right there beside him, but there was still that other part that felt that he had no right to be in that bed beside her, after all he had not been the man who had said the wedding vows, whenever it was they had exchanged them. That just reminded him of how little he knew about just what in the worlds was going on in this strange new world he had created, he had no idea how long they had been married or what had led to it. Something had caused them to rush into it, he knew this because it was only just over a year since Ronnie died, and yet Caitlin seemed happy and content in their life, so what had happened, who could he ask, how would he break the news to her at some point that he didn't remember any of this, should he break the news, and how would she react to that news?

These questions ate away at Barry's mind and would have been enough to keep him awake throughout the night on their own, but then there was the fact that in her sleep Caitlin kept turning over towards him, and because being close to her did not feel right Barry had to keep rolling away himself, until he was almost falling off of the side of the bed. Finally the exhaustion of the day took over and not even Barry's over burdened mind and heart could keep him up any more and he drifted off to sleep.

Barry had no sooner gotten to sleep then it seemed the alarm beside his bed was going off and he was cursing the stupid clock radio on his bedside table and whoever had invented the cursed object in the first place.

"Hey, time to get up, you don't want to be late for work again and give Julian another reason to write you up." A sweet voice said as Barry slowly opened his eyes and all his hopes that the last night had been a dream, were dashed. Caitlin was still right beside him and in fact was leaning forward to kiss him, this caused Barry to try and roll away quickly only to fall right out of the bed and hit the floor with a hard thud, taking the contents of his bedside table with him.

"Are you alright?" Caitlin asked as she sat up on the bed and Barry busied himself picking up the contents of the bed bedside table.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Barry said putting on his best fake smile and trying to laugh the incident off.

"Okay." Caitlin said and she was sounding a little puzzled and worried and she was chewing on her bottom lip the way she did when she was trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together and solve a problem. Barry didn't like this at all, because if anyone could put the pieces together and figure out what he had done it was Caitlin, and he still hadn't figured out how he was going to handle that.

Barry decided the best tact was to try and change the subject, and thankfully Caitlin had given him something to change the subject to. "It's just that, like you said I don't want to be late for work and give Julian another reason to write me up." He said as normally as he could, when he had no idea who this Julian was or why he or she would be writing him up, did he not do his job in this time line? He was always running a little late, but he always got his job done on or ahead of time, even before he got his speed, and why did this person care in the first place?

"Good point." Caitlin said with a smile, and Barry was glad to see that, it meant she was no longer thinking about the strange way he had been acting. "I have never met him but the way you describe him, you make him sound like the Arnold Rimmer of the CCPD and working with him for the past year has not been a picnic."

"Yeah, he is hard to work with, that is for sure." Barry bluffed with a smile of his own. So Julian was a guy and it sounded like he worked with Barry, did he have a boss who worked with him in the lab in this time line? If he did that was just what he needed, a person he didn't know trying to barge his way into his life and watching his every move like some officer of the KGB. That would make it really hard for him to hide the fact that he was The Flash, plus it would mean his lab would no longer afford him the peace and solitude he was counting on it giving him on this very strange morning.

"Well, no need to make it any harder, you will just have to try and find a way to get along." Caitlin said as she got out of bed and walked past Barry and towards to bedroom door. She stopped briefly to plant a kiss on his cheek and Barry liked that, even if part of him still said it was wrong, and then she made her way out of the bedroom in the direction of the kitchen which Barry had noticed was between the main living area and the bedroom the night before. This finally left Barry alone in the room, he decided that the first thing he needed to do was take a shower, he didn't much like the way he smelled after all the running and tossing and turning he had done the night before. He used his speed to search the dressers for his drawers and clothes, and he got done just in time because Caitlin then poked her head in through the door. "Eggs and toast okay with you for breakfast?" She asked.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Barry replied and he turned to face her looking a little like a thief who had been caught in the act of looking for the family's good silver.

"Okay, it will be ready in a few minutes." Caitlin said with a smile and then vanished back through the door she had come through. Leaving Barry to let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding in, if she had come in just one second sooner she would have caught him in one of her drawers and he didn't have a clue as to how he would have explained that. This mess just kept getting bigger and bigger, maybe he should have just told her the truth last night? Now it had gotten so big he wasn't sure if telling the truth would help, but on the other hand how much longer could he keep up this act before he got caught? Focus, that is what he had to do, focus on his daily routine, that would give him something else to think about and it would take some of the stress off of him, and so he made his way to the bathroom with the intent of having a quick shower and shave, at least that was something that he couldn't get wrong no matter what time line he was in, unless of course in this time line they used the three sea shells, that would fit in perfectly with how his luck seemed to be running lately. Fortunately when he entered the bathroom he saw that it was stocked with good old fashioned toilet paper, so at least he had that going for him.

It is amazing what a shower, a shave, and a fresh set of clothes can do for a guy who is feeling completely off his game, even if it only takes him a few minutes to go through the routine at super speed. By the time Barry was finishing with his morning routine he felt almost like a completely new man and as if he could face the day, screwed up time line and all. He still had a lot on his plate, but at that exact moment he felt like he could take on any problem the time line tried to throw at him. If there was one thing that could be said about Barry Allen it was that he didn't let things get him down for long. Cisco had once compared him to Rocky in this regard and at that moment Barry felt like he could go fifteen rounds with time it's self and win. He had a hunch that this feeling would not last, but he decided to just go with his more positive feelings for the moment as he exited the bedroom and entered the kitchen area.

It was there that he found Caitlin setting out two plates on the counter along with a couple mugs of coffee and it was at moment that he suddenly realized just how hungry he was. Barry had done a lot of running in Flashpoint, and this new time line and he had been so shocked and worried about everything else that he didn't think to stop and eat, now that he was thinking about it he knew it was a wonder he had not passed out. One thing that did shock him was that he couldn't tell which plate of food was his and which was Caitlin's, they both seemed to have an equal amount of food.

"You know it's a good thing Cisco figured out how to created this high calorie bread for you, or getting through breakfast would take forever and you would be even more late then you normally are for work." Caitlin said with a smile as she put the eggs on the plates, it was then that Barry noticed that the plate on the right seemed to have bread on it was was of a much darker colour then that of the bread on the left hand side plate, he guessed this was his special bread and sat down on the stool in front of that plate. Thankfully for once his guess seemed to be right because Caitlin didn't say anything and just sat down beside him and began to eat.

Barry was surprised by just how not awkward the small talk between Caitlin and him was, as long as he let her take the lead and went along with what she was saying, she was still Caitlin and they could still make each other smile, she mentioned something called husks, that sounded worrying to Barry and he pretended to know what she was talking about, but when he didn't have anything of his own to contribute on the subject the room fell into an awkward silence as they finished eating and loaded the dishwasher. They then went to brush their teeth and this was another awkward moment for Barry, brushing and flossing his teeth at super speed with someone else in the room, he had never done that before.

Just when Barry thought he was going to be able to get out of the apartment and go to work without any more awkward moments Caitlin spoke up as they were entering the main living area and getting ready to leave. "Barry, are we okay?" She asked with concern written all over her face.

"Yeah, we are fine, why wouldn't we be?" Barry responded, and again this was a bluff, it seemed that despite how well he had thought the morning had gone in general something had happened to tip Caitlin off that something wasn't right with him. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, she was his wife after all, as he had to keep reminding himself. Still he had been hoping to get through the rest of the day without hurting her or giving her any sign something was in fact very wrong.

"It's just you have been acting so strange, like you can't get far enough away from me, and I know your dad just died and everything, but this feels like more then that, like there is something else on your mind and I thought you understood you don't have to keep secrets from me." Caitlin said in a small voice as she took a seat on the sofa, not looking at Barry.

Just from the tone of her voice Barry could tell she was scared and upset and at that moment his instinct for setting her mind at ease took over and he sat down beside her and put his left arm around her. "I'm sorry." He said gently and he really meant it. "I didn't mean to do that, I guess I am just going through a lot and I am used to doing it alone, and I forgot that you are here for me, you have always been here for me. I still love you." He said and at that moment he knew it was true and when a tear started to make it's way down her cheek he couldn't help himself, he pulled her in closer to him and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Okay, I love you too." Caitlin said and she sounded a little stronger. "I guess what I am really wondering is if you still want to go through with trying what we talked about."

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" Barry said awkwardly as he tried to figure out just what it was she was talking about.

"Well we have only been married just over three months and I know we said we didn't want to let fear of the next big disaster or loss hold us back from going on with our future, but some people would still say we are rushing things, still a lot of couples start trying around this point, and the last time we talked about it was a week before your dad died, so I didn't know if you were staying away from me because you had changed your mind. After all it is a big step." Caitlin rambled off as she looked down at her hands.

So they had been married just over three months, that was some useful intel for Barry, at least he now had a general idea of when that happened and he wouldn't have as much trouble faking his way through conversations, but he still needed an exact date and details. These thoughts were crowding out all others when he noticed Caitlin standing up and looking like she was about to leave. Darn it!, he had been quiet too long, he needed her to feel like everything was okay, even if he was a confused mess so he reached up and grabbed her arm. "Caitlin." He said in a gentle but forceful tone. "Nothing has changed the way I feel about you or our future, sure my dad dying is hard, but having you here and knowing we have plans for the future that we have not given up on helps keep me going." He then stood up and when she turned and kissed him full on the lips, much to his shock he found himself returning the kiss.

"Good." Caitlin said with a smile. "Because for a while I thought you didn't want me around any more and I didn't want to have to change all of my IDs back to Dr. Snow, do have any idea how much paperwork is involved with that?" She joked.

"Oh, don't worry. I will never get tired of having you around." Barry said returning the smile and he started to lose focus on the fact that this wasn't his time line because for the first time he felt like he was really married to Caitlin and the news that she had changed her name to Dr. Allen filled him with a sense of pride and this time he was the one who started the kiss, and it may have gone farther if both of their cellphones had not started going off at the exact same time.

They both pulled away and looked at their cellphones which were displaying text messages. "It's from Cisco." They both said at once as they looked at the messages which simply read "S.T.A.R labs, S.O.S"  
"This can't be good." they both said, again at the same time and Barry picked up Caitlin and prepared to flash them both to S.T.A.R labs, he knew whatever was going on it had to be a complete disaster for Cisco to text them when he knew Barry should be headed for work, so he braced himself for whatever new problems were headed his way. The one thing that made him feel a little better was that he now knew Caitlin was still Caitlin and he had her by his side, for the moment, but would that last once he was forced to tell her the truth? Still he couldn't think about that at the moment, Cisco was in danger and that had to be his full focus at that moment and so he flashed out of the door, ready to take on whatever new danger awaited himself and Caitlin, one thing he knew for sure, he wasn't going to lose her again, either to a threat or his own mistakes. He would work this out because suddenly he couldn't stand the thought of being parted from her again.

 **Well that is chapter three, I am not sure I am completely happy with it, so any feedback would be welcome. I take the weekends off from writing fan fiction, but I will be adding new chapters every weekday, I hope this was worth the wait.**

 **I know I promised someone that Cisco would be in this chapter, but then it kind of got away from me, but the next chapter will open with him and the adventure part of the plot. I am not going to be using much of season three's cannon plot because I am a few episodes behind and it is still airing so I don't know where it is heading exactly, so I can't plan it out, still a few bits and pieces will pop up, I hope you are all okay with that.**

 **Please let me know what you think and if I should go with more of season three's plot, or if you like how I am handling the story so far. Since I only really became a fan of the Flash over the summer I would really like to hear if you think I am getting everyone in character.**

 **Oh and just F.Y.I, this was the point the story originally ended before I decided to turn it into a multi-chapter fic.**

 **Well enough about me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading, following, and reviewing. You guys are the best.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _*still in a flashback*_

As Barry Allen Flashed through S.T.A.R labs with Caitlin in his arms, to see what the big emergency was that Cisco had felt the need to text them both about, he was careful to observe every detail of every room, just the way Oliver Queen A.K.A The Green Arrow had taught him to do. Caitlin may not have agreed to be left behind, and she did have a point, if Cisco needed first aid she was the one of them that could provide it, but that didn't mean Barry was about to take any chances with her. He had already lost her once and he wasn't about to lose her again, that is why he had decided that once the current crisis was dealt with he had to tell her the truth and trust that they would work it out, if he let her figure it out on her own he knew there was no way things would work out, and at least if he told the truth there was a chance, and if there was one thing his battles over the years had taught him it was that a slim chance was better then none at all. Still the chance that he could lose her for good and this time it would be because she chose to kick him out of her life caused his heart to sink, but he couldn't think about that at the moment, he had to remind himself to focus on the trouble at hand, so that is exactly what he did.

The first thing Barry noticed was that neither the gates nor the doors seemed to have been forced and the security system seemed to be intact, so that was a good thing. Unless of course they were dealing with someone who was somehow smart or powerful enough to break into S.T.A.R labs without leaving any sign they were there, it wouldn't be the first time the security system had let them down. Barry swore that despite the many upgrades Caitlin and Cisco had given the thing, it was worse than worthless, given how many times people had just waltzed right into his top secret headquarters, he wasn't sure why they even bothered to keep a security system. It was like Windows 10, hard to use and it did nothing but fail and require useless upgrades every half hour. So Barry didn't let his guard down for more then a second or two tops, and when he put it back up he was even more tense then he was before.

Barry carefully searched every room in S.T.A.R labs but couldn't find a sign of anything wrong, that was until he skidded to a halt in the Cortex and let Caitlin out of his arms so she could stand on her own two feet. That was when he spotted a very agitated looking Cisco pacing back and forth in front of the computer consoles, holding a tablet in his hands, and he was growing more and more angry as he looked at whatever was on the screen.

"Okay, Cisco we are here, what's the big emergency?" Barry asked and he looked over and was glad to see that his suit was the same as it always had been and kept in the same place, at least that had not changed. Barry was ready to put it on and do battle with the latest Meta-Human threat to Central City, in a way it would kind of be a relief to do something that he knew he couldn't screw up and couldn't have really changed that much between time lines.

When Cisco didn't answer right away it was Caitlin who spoke up. "Is it some new Meta-Human or something, don't tell me the Reverse Flash is back again?" She asked with concern all over her face.

This got Cisco's attention and he looked up at Barry and Caitlin who were standing side by side behind the console of computers. "No, it's much worse then that. Cisco replied and he was clearly angry. "Take a look at this." He said and then with a few swipes on his tablet he caused an image to appear on the big computer monitor that they were all facing.

It took Barry a few seconds to make sense of what he was seeing, and when he did he let out a sigh of relief, it wasn't a crisis at all, it was the type of thing only Cisco would send out an S.O.S over. It was the front page of a movie news website with a headline that read "First photos of Zoom Vs. The Flash movie cast in costume."

"This is your big emergency?" Barry asked, as he rubbed his right hand over his eyes and he suddenly felt very foolish for being so careful.

"Dude, just look at this, it's a disgrace!" Cisco said pointing at the screen and clearly not seeing why he was the only one upset by this website. Barry had to admit it was strange to think that some big Hollywood studio was making a movie based on his life, but it wasn't worth getting into a panic over.

"Yeah." Caitlin agreed. "We all knew this was coming, I mean it was the biggest news event in decades so someone was bound to make a movie based on it at some point, and we agreed that there was no way we could stop it without Barry telling everyone he is the Flash."

"And that would not be a good thing." Barry said finishing her thought and he was pleased to see that they were still in sync like they had been a few minutes before in their apartment.

"Guys take a closer look, do you see what they did to **MY** suit?!" Cisco protested and Barry took a look and he had to admit that it didn't look anything at all like the real thing, seeing his baby treated this way was clearly what had sent Cisco over the edge. "I mean look at it, it's got heavy body armor of some kind and it has a bunch of plates running against each other that would create wind resistance and slow you down, this thing makes no sense as an outfit for a speedster and I would never design something that stupid looking. This is the worst thing that could happen!" Cisco said and he dropped the tablet and threw his hands up in the air. Fortunately Barry used his speed to rush over besides Cisco and gab the tablet before it hit the floor and got broken.

"Okay, I get it and you are right, but like Caitlin said, there is nothing we can do to stop this." Barry said, trying to calm his friend down, but it didn't seem to work.

"Then there is the cast, look at them, they are just a bunch of stupid generic Hollywood jerks!" Cisco yelled as he once again pointed at the screen, and Barry took a good look at it.

Barry had to admit, the cast of heroes was all wrong. In the center of the shot was was "The Flash" who seemed to be played by a six and a half foot tall body builder type who didn't look like someone who ran for a living at all. Also there was a shot of him out of his Flash costume below the group shot and that really got Barry's attention, in this movie in "real life" "The Flash" seemed to be some sort of millionaire business tycoon type. On the one hand Barry was relieved that no one in Hollywood had guessed he was the real life Flash, on the other it was kind of insulting to have a huge company tell the whole world that someone of his body type wasn't good enough to be The Flash, after all there were plenty of photos out there of the real Flash from Flash day alone, they could of at least picked someone who was closer to his body type.

Then Barry turned to his attention to the left of "The Flash" and saw someone who was clearly supposed to be taking on Cisco's role in the movie and well he couldn't see this casting going over very well with Cisco at all. The actor was Chinese, really thin, dressed like a nerd stereotype, complete with a bow-tie and pens in his pocket, and wearing glasses.

"That is just..." Barry began as he looked over at his friend and Cisco finished the thought. "I know so wrong, I mean I know China is a big market, but they made me Chinese and gave me a bow-tie, I would never wear something that uncool." Cisco lamented. All Barry could do was nod his head in agreement and then return is attention to the computer screen and this time he took a good look at the two people one the left hand side of "The Flash" and what he saw was kind of shocking.

First there was an African-American woman who was clearly supposed to be Iris, and she had her arms wrapped around "The Flash" as if she was his girlfriend or something. What was more she was a good foot and a half shorter then "The Flash" and was clearly the supermodel, not the reporter type. Complete with low cut jean shorts and a tank top. Barry could only facepalm at everything about this, but that was nothing compared to what he saw to that woman's left, it was the movie's version of Caitlin and now Barry's face started to turn red and he was getting just as worked up as Cisco.

"Caitlin" in the movie was an even dumber looking supermodel type then "Iris", complete with a very short miniskirt, a low cut top, huge and clearly fake breasts, and hair that was died purple for reasons Barry assumed only made sense to Hollywood producers who were high on coke or something equally illegal, and she like Cisco was wearing thick glasses to prove she was smart.

"Okay, that is going too far, Not even Hollywood can get away with doing that to my wife!" Barry yelled as he pointed at the fake Caitlin on the screen and he was so angry that he had not even noticed that for the first time since he found out about his marriage the previous night, he was thinking about Caitlin as his wife and what is more, he had said it out loud and it felt natural to him and not awkward at all as it should.

"That's sweet." Caitlin said as she leaned over and kissed Barry on the cheek, Barry was so distracted by the image on the computer screen that he had not noticed her walk up beside him.

"Okay, gross." Cisco said and Barry turned to face his friend who clearly had noticed Caitlin walk up and had a somewhat grossed out expression on his face. "I thought we all agreed on a strict no PDA in the lab rule when you two got married, save it for your own place."

"Cisco, I think we have bigger problems then that, or just the casting, or the suit right now." Caitlin said sounding very concerned and this caused Barry to turn and face her with a puzzled look on his face. "Like what?" He asked.

"Like how they got so much intel on us and the make up of our team." Caitlin pointed out and she sounded a little panicked.

"She is right." Cisco agreed as he slapped his forehead with his right hand. "The make up of our team is old news to us because we work with it every day, but it is a closely guarded secret, if they know how many members team Flash has and what we do, then someone in Hollywood could know exactly who we are, and that is not good. Hollywood people can't be trusted with secrets!"

"Oh, yeah, this isn't good." Barry said as he ran his hands over his face and started to pace back and forth. "I mean I can understand how they found out about Iris, I mean she was the first person to write about The Flash and always writes positive articles, so they may have just assumed she was my girlfriend, but you and Caitlin, how did they figure that out unless someone who knows leaked it?" Barry asked as he came to a stop and motioned from Cisco to Caitlin who was now walking up beside him.

"I don't know." Cisco said and he was clearly on task and trying to figure the problem out now. "But we have to figure this out before more people find out."

"Yes, and quickly." Caitlin agreed and then she leaned over whispered in Barry's ear so that only he could hear her and what he heard caused him to freeze on the spot. "I mean we can't start a family if everyone out there knows who we are, it is too dangerous." All Barry could do was swallow and nod his head in agreement, he was too stunned to do anything else. So that was what she had been talking about earlier that morning. So not only was he married to her, but they were planning on starting a family? This was all too much for him and all he could do was stand in place as Caitlin quickly made her way over to the desk of computers and ordered Cisco to help her try and track down where the leak came from. Barry really needed to tell her the truth, things were going way too far way too fast for his taste and yet now more than ever he was worried that the truth would break her.

Still the truth was the only option and he may have asked Caitlin to step aside from the computers and told her the truth right at that second if he had not gotten a text from Joe at that moment. The text read "Why aren't you at work, the captain and Albert are going nuts, I am covering for you but get your ass over here, now!"

"Guys, I have to go to work." Barry said weakly and suddenly he wasn't at all in the mood for it, but he had to go, at least until he figured out a way to tell Caitlin and everyone else the truth and he knew that now was not the time or the place to do that. Caitlin just nodded that she understood without looking up from her computer and Barry pulled himself together just enough to Flash out of the lab and to the precinct. His goal for the rest of the day was to act normal, but as he was about to learn that would be easier said then done. How could someone be expected to act normal when they had everything they had ever wanted, but they knew it was going to come crashing down on them at any moment due to either outside forces or something they themselves had done? Also Barry wasn't sure how he was supposed to focus on the job after the news Caitlin had just given him, and yet he couldn't just tell her he wasn't ready, after all he had just assured her that morning that he was ready. So he had to tell her the truth, tonight and no latter, but he knew what that would mean, risking losing her forever, and he wasn't prepared to face that, not when he was just getting used to the idea of being with her, still work would be a welcome relief from his troubles at home, or so he thought.

Work turned out to be no less stressful for Barry than the rest of his rapidly unraveling life. First Joe was still kind of mad at him for bringing up Iris the night before. It turned out in this time line Iris had never forgiven Joe for not telling her that her mother was still alive and had vowed never to set foot in Joe's house again and they had not spoken since Barry and Caitlin's wedding, which Barry had managed to learn had fallen on the 28th of February, he had no idea why they had picked that date, but it was in the middle of the lull where they thought they had locked Zoom out of their Earth, so Barry guessed that made some sense. He also finally learned the exact date it was June tenth, so that was a big help to him in passing himself off as normal. Still, just because he had some info that would help him get through the work day it didn't make him feel any better about what he had done to Iris and Joe's relationship. Then he had to go and make it worse, because of course his attempts to fix things would blow up in his face. He had tried to get Joe and Iris in the same room for dinner that night, but it turned out using one of the oldest tricks in the book on a detective and a reporter was not a good idea, all he had managed to do was get caught in his lies and make them both mad at him, epic fail.

Then there was Julian, who's full name turned out to be Julian Albert, the Albert who Joe had mentioned in his text. Caitlin was right, he was the worst co-worker anyone could have. To start with he was in charge of all Meta-Human cases and wouldn't let Barry near one to save his life, in fact he seemed to actively want Barry dead or fired, whichever would get Barry out of his life quicker. When he did speak to Barry he acted as if he was talking to a child, between that, the Arnold Rimmer like note book he kept just to keep track of every little infraction of the rule Barry committed, his stupid Draco Malfroy like face, topped with an even stupider looking hair cut, and his upper class British accent that somehow made everything he said sound like more of an insult then it already was, Barry who normally tried to get along with everyone, was ready to punch him in the face by the time the work day ended.

Then it was time to head home and Barry braced himself because like it or not he knew it was time to face the music and take responsibility for what he had done. He tensed when he noticed Caitlin placing her purse down on the coffee table, indicating that she had just gotten home herself, she looked tired and that wasn't going to make this any easier, but he knew it had to be done.

"Hey, what should we order for dinner, because I don't know about you but I am way too tired to cook." Caitlin said as she turned to face him and Barry felt like a complete heel for what he was about to do to her.

"Before we do that can we sit down, there is something we need to talk about." Barry said gravely as he walked over and took a seat on the sofa.

"Sure, but no conversation that started with those words ever went anywhere good." Caitlin replied and she sounded very worried as she took a seat down beside Barry, "Maybe for the last time." Barry thought to himself sadly.

"Caitlin, before I start I need you to understand, that I still love you and I always have and I always will." Barry began trying to put himself on some good footing to start things off with and he hoped the ground would not fall out from under him this way.

"What's going on?" Caitlin asked as her eyes filled with tears. "Are you moving out or something? If it's the kids thing, it's not that important to me."

"No, it's not that. It's something else." Barry said and he could tell Caitlin's heart was in her throat so he decided he had to just get it over with and end her suspense. "You see I am not exactly the man you married."

"What are you talking about?!" Caitlin demanded as she looked at him and Barry could see anger behind the tears and suddenly he couldn't do this sitting he needed to stand up and start pacing on the other side of the coffee table.

"What I mean is that after everything that happened with Zoom I went back in time and saved my mother from the Reverse Flash, and I created a time line called Flashpoint, but then something went wrong and I had to reset everything, only when I came back after letting the Reverse Flash kill my mom again, things were different. For instance you and I were dating and I was going to ask you to marry me, but we were not married in the time line I come from, let alone talking about kids." Barry explained quickly and he waited for Caitlin's response, and as his luck would have it, he didn't have to wait long.

"GET OUT!" Caitlin screamed through her tears and she stood up and tossed a framed picture that was on the coffee table at Barry. It was only Barry's super speed that enabled him to dodge it and see that it was a photo of their wedding before the frame was smashed to pieces on the opposite wall. "I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN BARRY ALLEN!" Caitlin yelled and Barry was about to plead with her to calm down and try to explain things to her when he saw her pick up another photo frame and decided the best thing for both of them, and the things in the apartment was for him to beat a hasty retreat out the door, and at super speed that is exactly what he did with tears in his own eyes and he didn't stop until he made his way to Felicity in "The Foundry".

 _ ***End of flashback**_ _*_

"Wow." Was all Felicity could say to the story that Barry had just told her, then after giving the matter a moment of thought she spoke to try and give Barry some hope. "Well clearly you need to go back and fix all of this, it can't go on like this."

"How? I mean I had Caitlin twice and both times I screwed it up, how do I make that right?" Barry asked as he looked up at Felicity from where he was seated on the floor.

"I don't know." Felicity admitted honestly as she put a comforting hand on Barry's shoulder. "But if there is one thing I have learned about you over the years it's that you are the kindest, sweetest, and most determined person I have ever known and when you set your mind to fixing a problem it gets fixed." She saw him stop crying and then decided it was time to become more forceful. "So go, fix this now. I know you can do this, so do it and get Caitlin back!"

Barry nodded that he understood and then dashed out of The Foundry and into the streets of Star City. He knew what he had to do and he did it, he pushed himself to the limit and entered the Speedforce, he was now time traveling and seeing every moment of his life at once, he tried to focus on the ones where something had gone wrong and he thought he was making progress and was about to pick one to enter when suddenly he was hit by something, hard! It caused him to go flying out of the Speedforce into an unknown place and time and skid to a halt against an old pick up truck.

At first Barry thought he was under attack by the Reverse Flash, but then he heard an all too well known voice say. "We need to talk." and he looked up and saw the last thing he needed to see on this or any other earth, at that moment. It was his father's face and voice in a Flash costume with a silver helmet with wings on the top of it on his head. This just made the pain of losing his father all the worse and he felt like he was being stabbed in the chest, because even though it looked and sounded exactly like his father, it was not. He was in fact looking at the Earth 3 version of "The Flash" whom he had not seen since before his father died and suddenly all the pain of losing his father took a hold of him and his eyes started to fill with tears.

Barry's day just kept getting better and better and now it seemed this "Flash" was not about to let him fix his life. At that moment Barry had no idea how he was going to be able to go on.

 **Well there is chapter four and Caitlin finally knows the truth. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. If you liked it or if you didn't I really want to hear your ideas of how it can be improved.**

 **Oh and the story will get lighter soon, it's just Barry has to go through all this or it would feel out of character to me, sorry if you think it is too dark or angsty, but I don't want to write angst so it will get better, I promise.**

 **Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, following, and reviewing.**

 **As always you guys are the best.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Where are we?" Barry asked Jay Garick, a.k.a the Earth 3 Flash, who was now dressed in his normal everyday clothes and not his hero costume just like Barry, as they entered a building. Barry wasn't comfortable being lead around by a man who just happened to be the exact double for his recently dead father, but at that moment he didn't feel like he had a choice, he knew Jay would fight him if he tried to re-enter the Speedforce, and he was too tired at the moment for that, so he let the older man take the lead, for the moment.

"We are in a dinner, in the year 1998." Jay replied matter of factly as he lead Barry over to a booth near the back of the dinner, and they each took a seat on opposite sides of the table.

"Why?" Barry demanded, he was in no mood for games.

"Look, kid Harry told me that I am the doppelganger for your dad, who you just found out is dead, so I understand that I am the last person you want to see." Jay said and his tone was full of understanding and for just a moment Barry could swear it was his father speaking, but that just meant he had even less time for this conversation.

"Well, you got that right." Barry spat out bitterly and he refused to look at the older man opposite him.

"But you need to hear what I am going to say, plus you look like you could use a meal and the cornbeef hash here is to die for." Jay said firmly, but with the same understanding in his voice.

"Look I know what you are going to say." Barry said looking up at the older man, really wanting the conversation to be over. "Because I have heard it all before. I shouldn't change time, it is dangerous, and there will be a price to pay." Barry said and then added more forcefully. "Well guess what I already changed time, and now everyone around me is paying the price, so I need to find what went wrong and fix it."

"You know I have heard that all before too, right?" Jay asked with a bitter laugh.

"Where, and from who?, because I find it hard to believe they knew as much about time travel as I do, not now." Barry stated firmly, he wanted to show that his mind was made up and nothing was going to stop him from fixing things.

"From myself, every time I time traveled." Jay said forcefully and this got Barry's attention and he looked at the older speddster and waited for him to continue. "Believe me I did it a lot more times than you did, kid, and every single time I told myself exactly the same things you are telling yourself now."

"But you don't understand, other people have been hurt, this isn't just about me I have to fix it for them." Barry pleaded.

"And you don't think people were hurt when I time traveled, why do you think I kept trying to fix things?" Jay asked and this gave Barry something to think about so Jay decided to continue with his story. "But each time it just made things worse. How do you think the portal between my world and Earth 2 got opened in the first place, and how you you think I was captured by Zoom?" Jay demanded.

"I thought Zoom opened that portal." Barry said and for the first time there was hint of understanding in his voice.

"Zoom could only open portals where the fabric between universes was already weakened by some sort of event, like say a Speedster repeatedly traveling through time in order to fix his own mistakes that had hurt other people." Jay explained and there was a hint of shame in his voice at this confession.

"But there has to be something I can do!" Barry objected and he didn't care that he was pleading now.

"Look Barry, we are not gods, we are just men with gifts." Jay explained sympathetically. "We can't fix everything, and we can't undo what has already been done, all we can do is move forward."

Suddenly Barry was reminded of the lesson the Speedforce had been trying to teach him and he thought he had learned when he met the Speedforce, but clearly when push came to shove he had not, still he wasn't ready to give up. "Then what is the point of having these powers, if we can't fix what we break?" Barry demanded.

"Because no one can ever completely fix everything they break." Jay explained now sounding like a teacher imparting an important lesson. "But we can still be heroes. The thing you have to ask yourself is, what kind of hero are you going to be? Are you going to be the type that takes a do over every time something goes wrong and ends up repeatedly hurting everyone around you and ends up lost in your own grief, not caring who you hurt, like Zoom?" And that hurt Barry, so much that a tear formed in his eye, and then Jay went on. "Or are you going to be the type of hero who trusts those around him and moves forward, works past his own pain and thinks about the greater good, the choice is yours, kid."

"I think I only have one choice." Barry said grimly and there was finally understanding in his voice. "I just hope no one else in my life leaves me when I explain it to them. Still you are right, I have no idea how to fix this, because I am just Barry Allen, so I have to move forward."

"Hey, there is no just about being Barry Allen, you may not be a god but in all of the multi-verse there is no one just like you, and you proved why you will find a way to make things right and why people will forgive you." Jay said as he stood up and Barry followed him.

"Why is that?" Barry asked, and his voice showed that he wasn't sure he believed Jay, not after what had happened with Caitlin.

"Because, you just made the right choice. The unselfish one, and nine out of ten people wouldn't be able to do that." Jay stated firmly. "Your friends will see that in time, and so will she."

"I hope you are right." Barry said grimly, but he had made his choice and he knew it was the right one so he wasn't about to change his mind, not now, not ever.

"I am." Jay said firmly and then added. "Now, let's get you home." and with that the two speedsters left the dinner and entered the Speedforce together and Jay returned Barry to a darkened and shut down for the night S.T.A.R labs. "Good luck, kid." Jay said and then dashed off to return to his own earth.

"Thanks." Barry said to the empty air. "I think I am going to need it." He then turned and dashed into S.T.A.R labs, he knew this late at night was not the time to break the news to everyone else, so he decided he would do it the next day, but first he needed some food and sleep. He felt completely drained and more alone than he had ever been in his life. Still he knew what his path forward was now and he could start making things right, he didn't know how he would fix things with Caitlin, but he would give it his best shot. He then found some of Cisco's energy bars and ate them, and for the first time all day he felt full. Barry then lay down on one of the beds in the medical bay and settled in for a good night's sleep, he knew it wouldn't come easy, but he also knew he would need it in order to face what was ahead of him the next day. The only thing he was sure of at that moment was that he was alone and things were bound to get a little worse before they got better. Still that was the path he had chosen, he would not become Zoom, hurting other people to make himself feel better. He just hoped Jay was right and his friends would see it that way. Tomorrow would tell one way or the other. He was almost asleep when a computer started beeping in the Cortex, with a groan Barry got up to see what it was. It was Cisco's Meta-Human alert apps and it was signaling that there was trouble down at the boardwalk.

A minute later Barry had flashed to the boardwalk in his Flash costume, only to be shocked by what he saw. It was Edward Clarance, the Rival from Flashpoint who had killed Wally West.

"Hey, Flash remember me?" The Rival asked with a smug, evil smile on his face.

"How can you be here?" Barry asked in shock.

"That's not important." The Rival replied smugly and then then added with a shout. "WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT I REMEMBER YOU AND EVERYTHING THAT YOU TOOK FROM ME AND NOW I HAVE IT BACK AND I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY!"

"Look, I am sorry." Barry said, trying to talk some sense into him, but it was too little too late, the Rival was already dashing at Barry at full speed and Barry had no choice but to respond in kind.

Their battle took them all over Central City at super speed, but Barry had an edge, he channeled all of his rage and frustration over everything that had happened since Zoom took Caitlin from him into one super speed charge into The Rival's side. This sent the Rival flying for miles and knocked him out of the fight. Unfortunately it also meant that Barry lost track of him and couldn't find him, no matter how hard he searched. So now there was a new super villain on the loose and Barry had no idea where he was.

"Great, just what I needed." Barry muttered to himself as he flashed back to S.T.A.R labs to try and get some sleep. So now not only did he have to make things right with everyone he knew but he also had a new super villain to deal with, Barry suddenly didn't feel much like sleeping, in fact he felt very ill. He could only hope tomorrow would get better. He tried his best to hang onto that sense of hope, he knew it was the best weapon he had at the moment to use against all the problems he faced.

 **Sorry this chapter was so short, I will deal with the last of the angst in the next chapter. This was the hardest chapter I ever had to write and I spent most of three days working on it. Sorry about that but it's just restating what was shown on the show with only a few changes here and there is the hardest thing for me to do and I get writer's block while doing it, so while the first second of the next chapter will be more of the same followed by my own story taking over and the Barry/Caitlin relationship taking center stage, I had to break up writing it into smaller blocks because it was the only way I could handle it.**

 **Sorry I know the fact that all this was covered on the show should make it easier to write, but for some reason the words just come to my mind more freely when I am coming up with them from scratch, then when I am doing this. Sorry that today and tomorrow's chapters will be so short and that they are not very good, but I couldn't get it done any other way. Honestly I spent hours looking at a blank page most of the time trying to figure out how to put the show into prose.**

 **Thanks for hanging in there for these two bad chapters, I had to write them for the story to work, but to be honest I am pretty ashamed of them, because there just isn't any creativity of my own in them. Hope you don't mind that it will be Friday before this story gets good again.**

 **Sorry about all of this.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Barry spent a restless night in the medbay and around four in the morning he just couldn't take tossing and turning in the "bed" any more and got up and took a shower to get ready for the day. Luckily he had a spare change of clothes at S.T.A.R labs and there were plenty of Cisco's tasteless energy bars for him to eat, but that did nothing to lift his spirits. Food of any kind didn't have any taste any more and time just seemed to drag on. He tried to busy himself finding The Rival with Cisco and Caitlin's computer system, but he didn't have any luck. He even tried texting Caitlin a dozen or so times, but she didn't respond, Barry guessed she had his number blocked now, and that hurt. Still he knew he had to move on, if his life with Caitlin was over, then the next step was finding out where he stood with everyone else. So around six-thirty in the morning he found himself sending out a mass text to every remaining member of Team Flash, it read "Have something I need to tell you all before work, meet me in the Cortex this morning."

Barry then spent the next half hour getting ready for the most important meeting of his life, he brought out the white board and a marker, because he couldn't think of a better way to explain just what he had done to everyone then the Back to the Future Part 2 method, he let himself smile at this thought, at least Cisco was bound to see the humor in that. He then spend the better part of half an hour waiting for everyone to show up. It was the most tense half hour of his entire life, even worse then when he had been waiting for his first showdown with Zoom.

Finally people started to gather in the Cortex and Barry was not surprised to see that Caitlin was not there. Iris and Joe did not look happy to be in the same room together, however Cisco was the first one to speak up. "Dude, you look like crap, and where is Caitlin?" his friend asked and he was clearly very concerned.

"She will not be coming." Was all Barry was able to choke out and guilt was written all over his face.

Before Cisco could ask any more questions it was Iris who spoke up. "Barry I swear if this is another dumb ploy to get my dad and I in the same room, I am leaving." She stated and her voice was full of bitter anger.

"No!" Barry injected quickly and then he added with a note of shame in his voice. "This isn't about any of you, this is about something I did and that I now know that I can't fix, because I tried and it just ended up making things worse."

"Barry, what did you do?" Joe asked suspiciously and Barry could tell he was entering cop mode now.

"Barry, it can't be that bad, so just tell us." Wally added and he seemed to be the only one who was on Barry's side at that moment. Maybe because he still looked up to Barry as a hero, or saw him as the brother he never had, Barry didn't know which it was, he just hoped Wally would still feel this way when he was done explaining everything to him.

"Well this is going to be hard for you to believe." Barry began deciding that the best way to go forward with this was just like with ripping off a band-aid and to come clean with everyone. He then preceded to spend the next ten minutes or so explaining to everyone about Caitlin's death in his time line, creating Flashpoint, the things he had noticed that had changed since he tried to make things right, and why he couldn't fix things again this time. He ended by offering to tell them all about their Flashpoint and preFlashpoint lives, but he explained if he did they had to live with the fact that the lives they had now were the lives they were all stuck with, there was nothing he could do to change them. By the time he finished his eyes were filling with water and he simply waiting for someone in the silent room to respond. The only response he got was for Cisco to get a look of pure anger and hurt on his face and then storm out of The Cortex.

Joe was the next to follow, simply saying "This is heavy, Son." in a quiet voice and Barry knew his adoptive father had always found the time travel parts of his powers hard to wrap his head around so he wasn't surprised when he simply left to go to work quietly.

Wally just had an unreadable expression on his face and left, and Iris simply got thoughtful and sat down in a desk chair. Barry decided to find Cisco, a moment ago they had been buddies and Cisco's life seemed to be fine, now Cisco seemed mad at him for some reason and Barry had to know why.

Barry found Cisco in the lab he and Harry had shared while fighting Zoom, working on some sort of electronic gloves of some kind.

"Hey, what are you working on?" Barry asked trying to start the conversation on a light note.

"Just some gloves to harness my powers, which you most likely know nothing about." Cisco replied brokenly.

"Hey, Cisco are we okay?" Barry asked and he was clearly confused.

"You want me to be honest?" Cisco asked and there was a hint of anger in his voice as he turned to face Barry. Barry braced himself for the truth, he had already lost Caitlin, so how much worse could this be?

"Always." Barry answered quietly.

"We are not!" Cisco replied and now there was clearly anger in his voice. "When my brother was killed by that drunk driver I begged you to go back in time and fix that, but you said no Cisco, I can't Cisco, I would never do that Cisco, and at first I wanted to be mad at you because of that, but the more I thought about it the more I came to accept your decision because you had lost people in your own life and you hadn't gone back and saved them." Barry nodded that he understood and now he could see where this was headed. Then Cisco became even more angry. "But now I find out that is not true at all! When you lost someone you loved you did go back for them, so why can't you do that for me!"

Barry was shocked to learn that Cisco's brother was dead in this time line, and that news filled him with an all new sense of guilt, but he couldn't focus on his own feelings at the moment, he had to focus on talking Cisco down, before their friendship was destroyed, or worse he became an enemy that Barry would have to fight in the future, just the thought of that crushed what little hope Barry had left for his future.

"Were you not listening to me in there?!" Barry demanded and he started in on what sounded like a lecture. "Didn't you hear how bad things went, I was wrong, and because of that Wally died and everyone here has been hurt. I can't do that because there is always a price tag attached to messing with time."

"That is a chance you should be willing to take for someone you expect to be your friend!" Cisco insisted, getting mere inches from Barry's face. Barry however did not let things escalate, instead he decided to leave Cisco with something to think about. His voice softened and his eyes became wet as he let Cisco see him remove his wedding ring from his finger.

"You don't want to pay that price, because it is a high one, and ultimately one you have to pay alone." Barry said as he removed his wedding ring from his finger and placed it in his pants pocket. This seemed to calm Cisco down at least for the moment because now he was the one with a shocked look on his face. Cisco didn't say anything and instead returned to working on his gloves. Barry decided it was best to leave Cisco to think about what he had just told him, and he turned and left the lab, it was then that he ran into Iris in the hallway, and he wasn't sure he could take being shouted at again. Thankfully his foster sister didn't do that, instead her voice was quiet and gentle and her eyes were full of understanding.

"Did Caitlin kick you out when you told her, is that why she wasn't here?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, it went bad and she never wants to see me again, so I guess that is over." Barry said and his eyes filled with tears. Iris rushed over and hugged him.

"Barry, I am so sorry." Was all Iris could say as she stood there for him until at last Barry pulled away, then she decided to ask another question. "In this other time line, my dad and I got along, didn't we? That is why you tried to get us into the same room yesterday with that stupid stunt, because you couldn't stand seeing dad and me become like you and Caitlin?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was pretty stupid." Barry said with a sad smile.

"No, it wasn't." Iris insisted and Barry gave her a puzzled look, so she continued. "Your heart was just bigger then your brain that is what makes you a hero, and it doesn't matter what you have done to time that will always be true."

"I wish I could be sure of that." Barry said bitterly.

Iris looked him dead on in the eyes and spoke with force. "Trust me it is, and the others, they will have to see that, it may take some time, but they will see it in the end."

"Thanks, that helps." Barry said calming down.

"Any time." Iris replied. "Barry, I don't know how you will do it, but you will get her back."

"You didn't see her last night, and she will not talk to me, but don't worry I will get through this, I am The Flash after all." He said with a bitter smile.

"Yes, you are." Iris agreed with a smile but inside she was feeling very worried for Barry, after all she knew just what it was like to lose that one person you loved, she had had Barry there for her at the time of Eddies death so now she would be there for him and make sure he didn't fall into depression and push people away like he had the year before.

Barry's phone then beeped with an alarm. "Hey, I have to go to work." He explained and Iris nodded that she understood and Barry then flashed off, to get to work on time for once in his life.

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Caitlin's night had been no more restful then Barry's. She had screamed, she had thrown things, and she had finally cried herself to sleep on the sofa. Finally, in the mid-morning she had woken up, she was too tired to cry any more, instead she just felt dead inside, she decided the numbness she felt at that moment was better then the pain she had felt the night before and so she decided to embrace it, since it would at least allow her to function. She had gotten through Ronnie's death, she could get through Barry being erased from time by some monster who dared to wear his face and act like he cared about her, as if anyone could care about her the way "Her" Barry did.

She needed to get on with her life and the first step to that was picking up the mess she had made of the apartment. As she stood up from the sofa she supposed that she should start looking for a new and smaller place and a new job, she wondered if Dr. McGee would rehire her to work at one of her labs in another city because one thing was for sure, she couldn't stay in Central City, not with "Him" still there.

Still first things first she needed pick up the apartment. She decided to start with the wedding photo she had thrown at "Barry" the night before, seeing it filled her chest with a stabbing pain and then as she touched it something happened that caused her to react with horror. The frame completely froze the instant she touched it and she jumped back with a scream and the photo completely shattered on the floor.

So far she had managed to keep her powers hidden from everyone, even her Barry, but it was clear now that they were becoming stronger, and she was losing control. She was becoming Killer Frost and without S.T.A.R labs to help her she knew of only one person she could turn to for help, and after "Barry" she was the last person Caitlin wanted to see, so she decided against it. She was on her own now and would have to learn to control these powers on her own. She didn't want to become a monster like her other self, or Zoom, or "Barry", but the truth was she had never been more scared or needed "her" Barry more in her life.  
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At work things had gotten a little better for Barry, he found that Joe was no longer mad at him, and was fine with helping him fill in the blanks so he could get his job done to a degree where even Julian couldn't find anything to complain about. He also learned that the "Husks" were in fact six whole human skins that had turned up in various parts of the city. Barry didn't know why but something told him that these had something to do with The Rival turning up the night before, something he still didn't have any leads on.

Much to Barry's surprise it was Julian, that constant thorn in his side, who finally provided him with a vital clue and when he was given it, Barry smacked himself for not thinking of it himself. It turned out one of the husks, that was about the size of The Rival, had come from the old sawmill, the same one he and Wally had had their showdown with him at in Flashpoint. Still this made it even harder for Barry to stand working with Julian, because it meant that not only was he a pain in the neck, but he had the gull to be good at his job, so there was no chance of him going anywhere any time soon and Barry would have to show him some form of respect, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

That night Barry had raced off in full Flash gear to deal with the Rival once and for all before any bystanders got hurt, like in Flashpoint. At first it looked like an easy job, and once again Barry channeled all the rage he was feeling about himself and his current situation into the fight. He wasn't fighting like he had learned to from Oliver, he was fighting more like he had when he had first become the Flash and that is how some guy in a metal mask had gotten the better of him and blasted him with some sort of energy beam.

"Barry get out of there, you are out numbered and we have no idea what this new guy's powers are!" He heard Iris plead through his compiece, but he was too far gone, too lost in his rage to listen.

Barry continued his losing battle against the Rival and he lost all track of the new guy who seemed to call himself Alchemy, so at least the battle was one on one again, but it didn't matter Alchemy had done his work, Barry felt his strength sapped to the point where he couldn't keep up with The Rival. At last Barry found himself pinned against a pile of lumber without the strength to move, and The Rival was standing over him with a metal pipe in his hand, ready to run it through Barry's heart, just like he had done to Wally in Flashpoint. Barry was ready for it all to end, he had no friends left, not really, so what was the point of fighting on? That was when The Rival went flying sideways, hit by a wave of sound or something and Barry heard a familiar voice speak forcefully.

"Get away from my friend!" The voice commanded and Barry looked up to see Cisco wearing the gloves he had been working on earlier and a full costume he seemed to have made for himself. The gloves seemed to enable Cisco to project his vibes as a weapon and hearing Cisco call him a friend gave Barry just the pick up and go he needed t continue the fight. Between him and Cisco they managed to easily finish off The Rival and Cisco had a big grin on his face.

After The Rival had been safely locked in the pipeline and as they were headed to the cortex, Barry had to ask the question that had been eating away at him since Cisco had shown up at the fight. "Hey, what changed your mind?" He asked looking over at Cisco.

"Short answer?" Cisco said lightly. "Iris gave a pretty inspiring speech about family and about how we all make mistakes but in the end we forgive each other, and I couldn't leave you out there."

"Well thanks." Barry said as they entered the cortex and the sight he saw in front of him filled him with even more hope then he had before. He saw that Joe and Iris had their arms wrapped around each other, so they had clearly made up and that gave him hope that maybe everything could be fixed.

"Hey you two made a pretty good team out there, maybe you should do that more often." Joe observed.

"Yeah, maybe, when I am ready." Cisco replied quietly as he got out of his gear.

Next it was Wally who chose to step forward and speak for the group. "Barry, we talked it over, and we don't want to know what our lives were like before Flashpoint."

"Are you sure?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, our lives are our lives and we are with you." Wally explained.

"Thanks." Was all Barry could find in his heart to say and he had never been more grateful to have his team by his side.

"Speaking of." Cisco said stepping up beside Barry, who was now out of his Flash costume. "Until Caitlin comes around, and believe me she will, bro. We can't have you staying here, and my place is a great bachelor pad." Cisco offered, clearly trying to lighten the blow and despite how conflicted Barry felt at that moment he had to return the smile, Cisco was a good friend.

"Thanks." Barry said once again and flashed to grab the spare clothed he always kept in a backpack at S.T.A.R labs.

"Great, let's go." Cisco said as he led Barry out of the lab and into his new life for the moment.

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Over the next few weeks Iris made it her business to keep a careful eye on Barry and on the outside he seemed fine, he seemed to accept his situation and be moving forward, taking everything in stride. From training Harry's daughter Jessie Quick in the ways of being a speedster, to a new Wells who insisted everyone call him H.R and it turned out she was right not to trust because he was a con man from Earth 19, to the growing threat of Alchemy.

Still under the smile and the confident leader, Iris could see the cracks beginning to form, for one thing he was taking stupid risks in fights that Iris knew he never would have taken before, no matter what time line he came from, he had been doing this too long, and had been trained too well by both the fake Wells and The Green Arrow, to make these kind of sloppy mistakes, and second even after Cisco insisted he was fine and ready to go, Barry refused to take Cisco in the form of Vibe with him in his fights against meta-humans.

In short while Barry seemed okay to everyone else, Iris could tell that he was starting not to care if he made it out of a fight or not and she knew the cause. Caitlin, she still wasn't returning Barry, or anyone else from S.T.A.R labs calls, and the separation without any form closure one way or the other was starting to take it's toll on Barry, he and Caitlin clearly needed to talk and resolve things one way or the other, or Barry was going to end up hurt or dead, and Iris knew if that happened Caitlin would regret it for the rest of her life.

Still, it seemed if Caitlin was ever going to talk to Barry again she needed a push. Now if there was one word Iris would never use to describe Barry it was pushy, once someone made up their mind Barry respected that and moved on. Now normally Iris would count that among his many virtues that made him a hero, but in this case she was counting it as just the opposite. Caitlin needed this push as much as Barry did and if Barry couldn't or wouldn't do it, Iris decided she would have to be the one to do it. After all she was a reporter and being pushy was part of her job. She made up her mind, even if Caitlin hated her for doing it, she could not let this go on, she was going to head over to Caitlin's place and she wasn't going to leave until Caitlin had at least heard her out and agreed to talk with Barry, even if it was just for one last time. Iris West had set her mind to something and there was no changing it, she was going to fix things between Barry and Caitlin.

 **Okay well that is chapter six, sorry it took so long to get through the repeat of cannon stuff, but this chapter I found easier to write then the last one and I hope you will like the next one as things will start moving forward with the plot again. Sorry about the angst, since this story isn't marked as such, and I didn't intend it to go this far, but once I sat down and started writing it felt like the characters were speaking to me and this is what felt right to write.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading, following, reviewing, every one of those is a huge help and it does help keep me going.**

 **Well until tomorrow, you guys are the best and thanks for the support.**

 **P.S Just to be clear because a guest asked in a review, Caitlin doesn't know that her dying was the reason Barry created Flashpoint, he didn't get to that part of the story before she kicked him out back in chapter four. If you look at the show Barry has a history of not putting his best foot forward when it comes to explaining himself. He never told anyone that the first time he time traveled in season one was by mistake and he didn't know he could do it, and to this day everyone acts like he did it on purpose and messed up the timeline for his own ends because of this, so this detail feels perfectly in character to me. Sorry if it confused anybody.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Iris West stood outside the door of what used to be the apartment of her friends Barry and Caitlin Allen, but with possession being nine tenths of the law she guessed it was now just Caitlin's apartment, also given that Caitlin hadn't responded to any of her or Barry's calls or texts, she also assumed that she had gone back to calling herself Caitlin Snow. Still Iris stood there ready to do whatever it took to get inside and talk with the women who she hoped still counted her as one of her friends. Not just for Barry's sake, but for Caitlin's as well. She had cut off all contact with her husband and all of her friends, and even if she did decide after giving Barry's side of the story a fair hearing, that the marriage was over, cutting off all contact with her friends and co-workers at this troubled time in her life couldn't be healthy. So she was prepared to do what she had done over a year before with Barry, not let Caitlin push her out, she was going to push back and refuse to leave until Caitlin saw that she wasn't in this alone. Thankfully growing up with a detective for a father and being a reporter had taught her a thing or two about how to get her foot in the door and get someone talking who at first didn't want to talk to you. Still this would not be pretty, Iris knew that much, so she took a deep breath, schooled her face, and then knocked loudly on the door, so that even if Caitlin was asleep at the early hour of five in the evening she could not miss the sound of the knock.

"If you are here to talk about Barry, go away." Iris heard Caitlin's voice call out from the other side of the door and she knew Caitlin must have seen her through the peephole. The voice was clearly trying to sound strong but Iris detected an undertone of sadness and hurt in it. She knew that type of voice, because it was the same one that she had used after Eddie died when she got sick of people asking her if she was okay and she was trying to drive them away and out of her life because she felt like she had to deal with the pain on her own. Iris decided that being tactful would be her best approach if she wanted to get inside the apartment and have a face to face talk with her friend.

"I am not here for that, I swear." Iris said as she crossed her fingers behind her back. "It's just I haven't heard from you in weeks, and I wanted to be sure you were okay."

"Well I am fine, so you can go now." Caitlin's voice said without a hint of emotion in it.

"So then would you mind if I came in, just for a few minutes, we don't have to talk about your problems, but I do know what you are going through, we both do, we both know what it is like to lose the man that you love, and we both know cutting all of your friends out of your life isn't the answer." Iris said forcefully, but with a note of understanding in her voice, she figured she had nothing to lose by pretending to be on Caitlin's side of this whole mess, because really she was on her side, just not in a way Caitlin would see as being on her side at that moment.

Iris' little speech seemed to do the trick because a moment latter she heard the sound of the door being unlocked and it opened to reveal her friend standing behind it, and she looked even worse then Iris had expected. For one thing Caitlin was pale, even by her own standards, it was clear that she had not been leaving the apartment or getting out to see much of the sun lately. Then then there were the dark and puffy circles under her eyes, it was clear she hadn't been sleeping any better then Barry had for the past few weeks. Finally there was the way she was dressed, it was a look Iris had never seen on the young doctor before, her hair was a mess as if she didn't care what she did with it and she was only wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She was clearly depressed and not seeking help of any kind. Iris' heart broke for her friend and she was now more determined then ever not to leave until she had at least set Caitlin on the path of fixing things with Barry, she clearly was missing him, even if she didn't want to admit it at the moment.

"Come in." Caitlin said with a resigned sigh and turned and made her way to the sofa and what Iris saw as she followed her friend shocked her even more than what her friend looked like or the look of complete defeat that seemed to be her default expression at the moment.

As Iris made her way into the main living area she saw that only the furniture was still in place, everything else, every book, every picture, every movie, seemed to be packed up into cardboard boxes that were taped shut and scattered around the apartment. Clearly Caitlin was planning on moving and wasn't going to tell any of her friends or Barry. Iris saw that things were even worse then she had feared and could tell she had gotten there just in the nick of time. With things this far gone she wasn't sure what her best approach would be, so she decided to sit down on the couch beside Caitlin and come at the problem sideways.

"So it looks like you are moving." Iris stated and there was no judgment in her tone.

"That's right, this place is too big for just me." Caitlin stated coldly, without looking over at Iris.

"Do you mind if I ask where to?" Iris asked, again she kept her tone neutral, the same as she would if she was interviewing someone for the paper.

"Dr. McGee was kind enough to give me a job in her lab in Coast City, I start the first week of next month." Caitlin stated with the same lack of warmth or even caring that had been present in her earlier remarks. This gave Iris a way in, but it could also get her kicked out, still she had to go in for the kill some time, so she decided to take a chance.

"So, it really is over between you and Barry?" She asked and she was careful to sound like she was more interested in it as a piece of gossip than if she cared one way or the other.

"If you knew what he did you would understand why I am leaving." Caitlin stated, and it was clear she wasn't buying Iris' lack of interest act.

"I know what he did." Iris stated and again she tried her best to leave her emotions out of her voice.

"I guess you caught him in a lie." Caitlin said with a bitter laugh, and it was clear that Caitlin's hurt was quickly turning to hatred, and Iris knew she had to nip this in the bud or she had no chance of winning her friend over in to at least hearing Barry's side of the story.

"No, he told me what he did, he told us all." She stated firmly. "We didn't have to call him out on anything, and he also told us why he did it, and why he couldn't fix it."

"So, he told you that he erased the man I loved from time just so he could spend a few months with his family, something he told the Reverse Flash he didn't even want, just over a year ago." Caitlin spat out and this time there was a hint of anger in her voice, she clearly didn't like hearing Barry defended in any way and Iris knew she would have to cut to the chase if she didn't want to get thrown out of the apartment.

"No, he told us the whole story. Something I am guessing he didn't get a chance to do with you, his wife." Iris said and there was now a hint of accusation in her voice. This finally got a reaction from Caitlin, she looked at Iris and there was a fire in her eyes and she looked like she was about to yell at the reporter but Iris didn't give the doctor a chance. "He told us how Zoom picked the night he was going to propose to you to murder you instead of his dad." Iris stated and she looked Caitlin in the eyes in such a way that Caitlin could see she was not lying, this seemed to take the wind out of her sails so Iris quickly continued with even more force in her voice. "He told us how it broke him to the point where he murdered Zoom when he didn't have to kill him at all, and he couldn't live with that. He also told us that in Flashpoint he knew the two of you wouldn't be together, but that didn't matter to him as long as he knew you were alive and safe, and it was only the fact that Wally got killed in Flashpoint that caused him to try and reset everything, but it seems time doesn't work simply like that, and some things changed. He also told me that he felt that maybe losing you in this way was his punishment for messing with time in the first place in order to save your life, but he didn't care if you were with him or not, because at least you are alive enough to hate him here."

Those last forceful words seemed to knock all of the fight out of Caitlin and suddenly weeks of built up tears seemed to start coming out of her eyes all at once. "I didn't know." Was all she could just barely whisper as she Iris pulled her into a hug.

"I know, that is why I thought it was important for someone to come over here and tell you." Iris said in a comforting tone. "If you still can't stand being with Barry, I support you in that, it took me a while to get used to this and I am not married to him, but I thought you deserved to know all the facts before you made a choice that will effect the rest of your life."

Caitlin pulled away and began to sniff as she looked at Iris and for the first time that evening with something other then anger, she looked like she was unsure of what to do and ready to at least listen to some advice from her friend. "None of that changes the fact that he is not the man I married and he should have told me that first night when he came back."

"Yes, he should have." Iris nodded her head in agreement. "Still you better then anyone should know how bad Barry is when it comes to delivering bad news that he knows is going to cause someone he loves pain, always waiting for the right moment that never comes and then watching as things get more out of control and make it harder to break the news."

"I guess you are right about that." Caitlin said with a sad smile as she reached up and wiped a tear from her left eye, then she added gravely. "But does he love ME, I mean the Caitlin Snow from his time line had to be at least a little bit different than me."

"Yeah, that is true." Iris agreed thoughtfully and then added. "Did you believe he loved you before he told you what he had done?"

"Yes, I was completely taken in, but he could have been putting on an act so he didn't get caught changing time." Caitlin argued, clearly she was conflicted. Iris could tell that she wanted to believe the best about Barry now, but clearly her fears were holding her back.

"You were not taken in, trust me Barry is not that good a liar." Iris insisted.

"No, I guess you are right." Caitlin said with a sigh and with each new piece of information she was becoming more and more conflicted about what to do, just a little while ago she had it all planned out, but now she wasn't sure who this "Barry" was and she found herself wanting to believe he was still the man she married.

"I mean he even tried to get my Dad and I talking with the old he will give you information for a story trick, I mean he knows that I know my dad can't talk about active cases and I was always just teasing him in the past, but he still seemed shocked when that blew up in his face." Iris explained and this brought a smile and a small half laugh out of Caitlin for the first time since Iris had entered the apartment.

"Yeah, and that first morning he was trying to play it cool but when he woke up with me beside him in bed he rolled out so hard and so fast that he knocked everything off the bedside table." Caitlin added, joining in and it was a relief to be able to smile after so many weeks of not doing it. She then added on a more serious note. "I guess that should have been my first tip off that something was wrong."

"See that is my point exactly." Iris said forcefully deciding to press the advantage. "If he was just some guy from another time line trying to take advantage of you, he wouldn't have done that. I have been watching him for weeks, and I am telling you he is still the same Barry, it's just that he is the Barry from six months ago, not the one we knew a few weeks ago, it's just an earlier version of him, but he is still the same guy with the same heart and he misses you."

"Okay, even if that is true, how are we supposed to get back on the same page, I mean I am in one phase of my life and he is in a completely different one, a lot of important things happened that he now had no part in?" Caitlin asked and she was looking sad and conflicted again.

"Look I am not saying you have to take him back, but I do think you should at least call him and talk to him, if it is over he deserves to know before you move to another city." Iris said and the note of understanding from earlier had returned to her voice.

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Caitlin conceded. "It's just so hard, I mean what if it doesn't work out, or hearing his voice again causes me to lose control, I don't think I could take it if I screwed things up this time."

"Well the only way you will know for sure is if you take a chance." Iris pressed.

"I am not sure it is one I can take." Caitlin admitted at last being completely honest, and admitting that it was fear as much as rage that was holding her back.

"Okay, I have a question for you." Iris said looking Caitlin in the eyes and Caitlin nodded for the reporter to continue, so she did. "If something had happened to Barry and he lost his memory of the last six months, would you just give up on him without trying to work things out with him?"

"You do know that is a medical condition that is so rare and undocumented that most doctors don't believe it exists, right?" Caitlin stated, finding herself in pure scientist mode for a second.

"With all the strange stuff we have seen and what we are talking about now, that is where you draw the line?" Iris asked and there was just a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I guess you are right." Caitlin conceded, but then she added. "No, I wouldn't give up on him, but this is a little more complicated then that."

"I know." Iris agreed. "But I think if you don't at least give him a chance to explain himself now that you have both had time to calm down and think about things, you will regret it for the rest of your life." Iris said firmly but then added more kindly. "I didn't just come here to speak for Barry because he wouldn't push his way back into your life, I came here because you are my friend and I think you are about to make a mistake that will cause you pain for the rest of your life, I came here tonight because I am just as worried about you as I am about Barry, I mean he is taking stupid risks now as The Flash because he doesn't seem to care if he comes back, but when I couldn't get a hold of you I got just as worried that you may have done something drastic to yourself."

"Okay, well then thank you." Caitlin said and there was a note of understanding and a lot of worry in her voice and she got a thoughtful look on her face. "I will call him tomorrow, I think, I just need tonight to think about what I am going to say and how I will handle it, can you understand that?" Caitlin asked her friend.

"Sure." Iris said and then she reached over and hugged her friend before standing up. "I think I will leave you to get on with that thinking, will you be okay?"

"Yeah, at least better then I was before you came by, thanks for pushing your way in." Caitlin replied looking up at her friend. Then Caitlin added much to her own surprise with a concerned tone in her voice. "Tell Barry to start being careful, whatever else happens I don't think I could handle it if he got himself killed."

"Will do, and I am happy to push my way into your life any time." Iris said with a smile and then she turned and left Caitlin alone with her thoughts.

Caitlin was feeling more conflicted then ever, but she also knew Iris was right, still she knew the phone call she had to make would not be easy, even if he was still the same Barry, just from six months before, that still didn't make him the man she married, except it did, kind of. God, she hated time travel.

It was then that Caitlin remembered that she had not showered yet that day and she decided that she needed one, she hoped it would also help clear her head. So it was with her conflicting emotions that she stepped under the hot water of the shower, that was when she noticed an insane amount of seam filling the shower, and then as she looked up in horror she saw all the water going up to the shower head freeze into solid ice, this was her worst attack yet!

As she quickly stepped out of the shower she was reminded that Barry wasn't the only one keeping secrets, and she had kept this from her Barry for far too long because she was afraid of his reaction, suddenly she was filled with understanding for what Barry must be going through and she knew she had done some of the same things to him. This thought however didn't not last longer than her looking in the mirror and seeing herself.

What she saw filled her with horror and she now knew she couldn't get back with Barry, not until she fixed this because she was becoming a super villain and one touch from her could kill him. What she saw in the mirror was the pale skin, blue lips, and a lock of long white hair, she wasn't Caitlin Allen, or even Caitlin Snow any more, She was becoming Killer Frost! As she reached for a pair of scissors and cut the lock of pure white hair from her head all she could think about was that she had to fix this or leave, and she knew there was only one person on earth who could help her, and that was the last person on earth she wanted to see, but if she wanted to make things right with Barry, or at least give them a chance, she had no choice. Tomorrow she would have to go and see her mother.

 **Well I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Sorry it took so long but I ran out of one of my meds and couldn't sleep at night and couldn't focus, so it took over two days to write. Sorry about that I will try not to let it happen again.**

 **I am also sorry the plot didn't move forward much and it was just one scene, but it will be moving full steam ahead in the next chapter.**

 **Any way let me know what you think.**

 **As always thanks, for reading, following and reviewing.**

 **You guys are the best.**

 **P.S I know I am switching the order of events around a but from what happened on the show, but that is because I think it flows better this way, with a block of chapters devoted to Barry's POV, then a block from Caitlin's, then combining their POVs for when they see each other again and start to work things out, oh and don't worry that is coming soon, I know a lot of you want this fixed fast, but I want the fix to feel earned and not like a cheat, but after one more chapter from Caitlin's POV they will be coming together and make real forward progress, thanks for hanging in there and for putting up with my many spelling and grammar mistakes before I do all my edits to the chapters. Thanks a bunch for waiting so long but don't worry in a couple of days Barry and Caitlin will start to come together, they will need to be together to take on the new threat coming there way, so thanks for sticking with my little story.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The lab owned by Caitlin Snow's mother, Dr. Carla Tannhauser, looked much more open and inviting then S.T.A.R labs. Everything seemed to be made of glass, including the doors Caitlin reluctantly stepped through. The waiting area was huge and looked inviting as did the stairs that let up the higher floors, and the reception desk that everyone had to get past in order to go up those stairs. It was all meant to give off a feeling that this lab was producing the future and had nothing to hide. However Caitlin couldn't help but feel a crushing sense oppression as she made her way up to the desk, this was one of the last places on earth she wanted to be, and yet she had no choice, as much as she hated to admit it she needed help if she was going to get rid of these cursed powers she had, and with S.T.A.R labs off limits for the moment, that left her with only one place to turn, her mother.

Caitlin took in a breath to steady herself and then stepped up to the desk and spoke to the woman behind it with as much confidence as she could muster. "Hello, I am here to see Dr. Tannhauser."

"I'm sorry but Dr. Tannhauser is very busy and can't see anyone at the last minute, if you would like to leave your name and number she will try to get back to you." The receptionist answer as if she was nothing more then a recording, she must have done this dozens of times each day so she hardly even looked up at Caitlin as she said it.

"She will see me." Caitlin said with a forcefulness that she didn't know she had in her at that moment. "Just tell her that Dr. Caitlin Snow is here to see her."

"I'm afraid it doesn't matter who you are, Dr. Tannhauser is not seeing anyone today." The receptionist replied forcefully without trying to sound friendly this time.

Then an all too familiar and cold voice called out from the top of the staircase directly behind Caitlin, causing both her and the receptionist to look up at the woman in a business suit who showed no hint of emotion on here face. "I appreciate the diligence, Jackie, but Caitlin is always welcome here, even if I do wish she would call first."

"Nice to see you too, Mom." Caitlin said with a hint of hurt in her voice as she looked up at here mother.

A few minutes latter Caitlin was standing in front of the large glass desk in her mother's office at the top floor of the building trying to explain why she was there. She explained quickly that she had a patient at S.T.A.R labs who she thought her mother could help, after reading her mother's latest published paper. The whole time Caitlin's mother didn't look up once from her computer that she was typing on and she only responded by saying that she was surprised Caitlin kept up with the latest papers over at S.T.A.R labs and there was no hiding the disdain in her voice and then she added quite coldly that if Caitlin would send over the file, she would take a look at it when, and if she had the time.

This on top of everything else that she had gone through lately was too much for Caitlin to take. Her eyes flashed blue and in a moment of pure rage she slammed her right hand down on the glass desk and froze everything on it including the computer her mother was typing on, this force her to look at Caitlin for the first time since she had entered the room. "Mother, I'm the patient!" She called out angrily, this got her mother's attention.

Dr. Tannhauser quickly hit the button on her intercom and said into it quite calmly. "Jackie, cancel all of my appointments for today." Then she turned her full attention to Caitlin. "We have some work to do." She said addressing her daughter and there was only a tinny hint of concern in her voice.

Caitlin spent the most of the rest of the day having tests run on her, including having her blood taken by a man named Nigel, who seemed to be much nicer and more concerned about her, then her own mother. This only served to make Caitlin feel more alone and scared, she found herself wishing once or twice that Barry was there with her, but she wasn't sure she was ready to see or talk to "Barry", even though she promised that she would, she was just so confused and mixed up she couldn't think about that at the moment, not with her mother standing mere feet away the whole time and not showing any emotion on her face.

Nigel, her mother, and herself were all puzzled by the test results that showed that Caitlin seemed to be able to absorb any amount of heat energy from any object, thus freezing it. As they went over the data in detail, Nigel seemed intrigued, and Caitlin's mother took the opportunity to point out that if Caitlin had worked for her, instead of S.T.A.R labs that she wouldn't be in this mess and to shame her for taking up her whole day when the problem could have been so easily avoided. This caused Caitlin to once again remind her mother that she didn't want to live forever in her shadow and she had wanted to make a name for herself.

A while latter Caitlin sat on a cold table in a cold lab as her mother was trying to take some more blood from her, when at last she found the vein and then started to draw the blood, she spoke up and gazed at Caitlin with a puzzled look on her face. "Caitlin you could have run all these tests yourself, so why did you come here?"

"Seriously?!" Caitlin asked as if it was the stupidest question she had ever heard in her life. Then her voice got a crack in it as she could tell her mother didn't understand. "I am terrified of what I am becoming, and you do realize that you haven't asked me once how I am doing."

"I am trying to keep emotion out of this, it is much for your own good as it is for mine." Caitlin's mother explained simply and then her voice went up a little, and there was some emotion in it. "Plus I didn't think you wanted me involved in your personal life." She said as she withdrew the needle.

"How could you ever think that?" Caitlin demanded, now she was the one who didn't understand.

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you have been married twice in the past three years and you didn't invite me to either wedding and now you are back to calling yourself Caitlin Snow." Caitlin's mother replied sarcastically, but with a hint of hurt in her voice.

"Well both weddings were kind of spur of the moment and we didn't have time to invite guests from out of town, and now I am not sure my marriage is going to last because for one thing I don't think I can touch my husband without killing him." Caitlin whispered defensively. "Oh and then there is the fact that I was kidnapped just two months ago by a Meta-Human who nearly destroyed Central City and I didn't get a single call from you asking if I was okay."

"You could have called me." Caitlin's mother rebuffed as she took the blood sample and walked out of the room. "Any way you made it very clear where you stand, you didn't want to be in my shadow so I respected that. You made the choice to cut me out of your life, I just showed that choice the proper respect, you are a grown woman, that means you live with the choices you make and you don't get to come running to mommy every time those choice result in some little bump in the road. I have a life and a job too, you know?!"

Then Caitlin's mother was gone, just leaving Caitlin in a state of complete shock and wishing she had some family, any family to lean on at the moment, but it was clear that her mother was not going to be that person, so she didn't see any point in staying and crying her eyes out there, when she could do it just as well at home. She picked up her purse and got off the table and began to walk towards the door.

That was when Nigel entered the room with a look of concern on his face. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"Home, I came here looking for something beyond tests and it clear that I am not going to find it here, so there is no point in staying." Caitlin explained as she tried to remain calm.

"But we can help you here." Nigel pleaded.

"I can help myself." Caitlin stated firmly as she walked towards the door.

"I can't let you do that.' Nigel said and as he pushed a button that sealed the door shut, and suddenly he seemed very threatening.

"Let me go!" Caitlin demanded as she turned to face Nigel.

"I can't do that, inside your body could be the key to unlocking all sorts of scientific problems, maybe even cures for diseases." Suddenly Caitlin was thrust back to the early days when she had first met Barry and how she had used the exact same arguments to try and get him to stay in S.T.A.R labs and not use his powers to save people, but he had refused to do that, he had the power so he had to help people. This only served to remind Caitlin of how much she loved the man and missed him now that he was out of her life. This in turn just made her more angry and slowly she felt the Killer Frost part of her personality start to take over.

Her eyes flashed blue and there was a look of pure hatred and anger on her face that she had only shown once before, just a few weeks ago when she had found out the truth about "Barry". "You will let me go!" She commanded.

"No, I can't." Nigel insisted. "Now get back on the table so I can continue running the tests." He commanded, the foolish scientist seemed to be under the mistaken belief that he was in control. "Well that mistake will just have to cost him his life!" Caitlin thought to herself as she reached out and grabbed Nigel's right arm and a smile spread across her face as his skin turn blue and he dropped to the floor screaming in terror for her to let him go.

This only caused Caitlin's smile to become bigger, she was done living in fear and finally someone was going to pay for all the things that had been done to her. She also felt the pleasing sensation of all the heat from Nigel's body draining into her's and she enjoyed the look of pure terror on his face.

Caitlin was so caught up in all of this that she didn't even hear her mother unlock the door and rush across the lab, and she didn't notice the look of horror on her face as she watched what Caitlin was doing. "Caitlin stop, you don't need to do this!" her mother commanded, but hearing her mother give her yet another order had no effect on Caitlin.

"He tried to kidnap me, he needs to die." Caitlin replied coldly as she looked up at her mother and Nigel continued to scream.

This caused Caitlin's mother's voice to break and she began pleading. "Look I know I have not always been the best mother, and there is no excuse for the way I shut down and locked you out after your father died, but there is something else I know. This isn't you, I didn't raise a killer, you are better than that, you are better then me, so you are going to let him go!"

This seemed to do the trick and Caitlin's eye returned to their normal colour and filled with tears as she released Nigel and stepped a few paces back. "Oh, my god! What have I done?!" she whispered in horror.

"Just go, I will take care of this, if he tries to say anything I will make sure he is charged with kidnapping." Caitlin's mother assured her, and with that Caitlin dashed out of the lab and down the stairs and into the street.

She didn't know what to do, she was a danger to everyone around her, how could she be with "Barry" when she wasn't sure she could control these powers? Hopefully her mother would come up with something, but until then Caitlin decided now was not the time to call him and try to put things back together, when she could turn into a super villain that he would just have to lock up in the pipeline, or worse, any second.

That was when Caitlin's phone began to ring and she got it out of her purse and looked at the caller I.D and saw that the call was from Iris West, for a moment she considered not picking up the call, but then she decided that maybe what she needed in order to calm herself down was to hear a friendly voice, so she picked it up.

Iris didn't wast time on pleasantries, in fact she sounded a little panicked. "Caitlin I know how things are between you and Barry right now, but if you still care about him at all you will want to get down here to S.T.A.R labs right away."

"What is the matter, is Barry hurt?" Caitlin asked and she was surprised by the note of concern and panic in her own voice, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as she hailed the nearest taxi and climbed inside and gave the driver the address of S.T.A.R labs.

"I can't really explain it on the phone, but he isn't hurt but he is in real trouble and we are not sure we can get him out of it, you will have to see it to believe it." Iris explained, and this didn't cause Caitlin to calm down at all.

"I will be there as fast as I can." Caitlin said and then hung up the phone and prepared herself for whatever disaster awaited her at S.T.A.R labs, she then looked down at her wedding ring, she wasn't sure if the man who would be waiting for her was her husband or not, but at that moment she knew she couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to him. One thing was for sure, like it or not for the first time in weeks she was going to have to be in the same room with "Barry", she didn't know if that would make things better or worse, what happened latter that night would tell.

 **Okay sorry this one took so long to come out, but I am working on another project that I can't talk about right now for someone else so for the next couple of week only one or two chapters will be coming out a week, but after that it will be back to a new chapter every day, I hope you understand.**

 **Also I am sorry that this chapter was a retread of an episode, those are pretty much done with now and the story will take on it's own plot and for those of you who have been waiting for it, the next chapter will be all about Barry and Caitlin being forced to spend time together and them working things out.**

 **Thanks for hanging in there guys and thanks for reading, following, reviewing, and understanding the delay.**

 **I will try to have the next chapter out in two or three days, but I want to get it right, after all this waiting I don't want to let any of you down. See you next chapter! :)**

 **Also because some people asked, "Barry" is in quotes at this point in the story when Caitlin thinks of him because she feels that he is Barry Allen in name only and she doesn't feel he is the man she married.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Caitlin didn't make it to S.T.A.R labs until well into the evening but she saw that all the lights were on and Iris had not phoned her to tell her that the crisis, whatever it was, was over so she assumed everyone would still be inside helping "Barry" deal with his latest crisis. She was apprehensive as she got out of the cab, handed the driver the money for the cab fair, and made her way into S.T.A.R labs. She had no idea how she was going to handle the situation, whatever it was, she had shut "Barry" out for weeks and now that he was in trouble she was running to his side, how was she supposed to explain why she was there when she wasn't even sure she wanted him in her life? That assumed he was even awake to hear her talk and a part of her that she was ashamed of kind of hoped he wasn't, because that would make the whole situation a lot easier for her to handle.

Caitlin made her way through S.T.A.R labs and finally she spotted Joe pacing outside one of the labs and she ran up to the older detective.

"How is Barry, is he alright, what happened to him, does he need medical treatment?" Caitlin rattle off her questions so quickly and in such a panic that she wasn't sure she understood half the words she was saying.

"Calm down." The older man said in soothing tone of voice. "He is okay for now, but Cisco and H.R are not sure how to get him out of the trap he fell into, luckily Cisco built some sort of Twin Peaks device that finally let us talk to him, but he doesn't seem that interested in talking, I am hoping seeing you will do him some good."

"The trouble is I am not sure I am ready to see him." Caitlin admitted with a look of defeat on her face.

"I understand." Joe said hugging her. "But I can tell you one thing, the kid in there is the same one I raised, that is something I have learned over the past few weeks, and he cared enough to get Iris and I back together and I can tell he misses you. So just go in and give him a chance, please, I think he needs you now more then ever." Joe said and he sounded like he was as close to pleading as he would ever get, he was clearly very worried about "Barry".

"Okay, I will give it a shot." Caitlin said with a sniff as she pulled away from Joe and took a step into the lab.

The first thing Caitlin noticed as she entered the lab was all the people talking at once. Cisco and what looked like the new Wells she had been told about were having some type of conversation about building a something or other. Caitlin wasn't sure she liked this new Wells, he looked like he should be in an over the hill rock band and the way he dressed and the fact that he was constantly twirling drumsticks in the air as he spoke only served to cement this impression. Then there was the fact that she wasn't sure but she didn't think he had contributed anything to the conversation. She was about to just walk by him and ask Cisco what was going on when Wells spotted her.

"Greetings!" He said with a broad smile and an over exaggerated gesture with his arms. "You must be the lovely Dr. Allen, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Please just call me H.R" Was he flirting with her?, and she wasn't sure she wanted to be called Dr. Allen any more, this just left her with nothing to say, fortunately Cisco stepped in to save her.

"H.R if we are going to build that cryo-engine we should start now." Cisco said as he grabbed H.R's arm and pulled him towards the exit, only briefly stopping to address Caitlin. "It's good to see you."

Caitlin had forgotten how much she missed Cisco and her work at S.T.A.R labs and in the moment all she could find it in herself to say was a very weak. "Good to see you too, Cisco."

As he was pulled out of the room H.R got in one final over the top speech. "Don't worry we will get your husband out of this, because H.R Wells never fails!" Wow, just when Caitlin thought Wells' ego couldn't get any bigger, it had. Still his remark reminded her of why she was there in the first place, to see her "Husband" who was in some kind of trouble. She glanced around the room and her eyes quickly noticed Iris who was speaking to what looked like a reflective piece of modern art or a sign of some sort that had been dragged into the lab, that was when she noticed him, for the first time in almost a month she saw "Barry".

"Barry" didn't seem to be responding to Iris other then to give the odd nod of his head in agreement, and he seemed to be stuck in a small black void the size of the mirror or whatever it was, and she guessed he was unable to phase out of it for some reason or he would have done so hours beforehand. She had never seen him looking so dejected before except for the night he ran out of their apartment and returned a different man. But was he truly a different man? That was what she was going to have to find out, and much to her own surprise she found herself wanting to, because after the day she had she felt the need to talk to "Barry", and she felt sorry for him as well, even if she decided she didn't like him, being stuck in his current state was not something he deserved, not after everything she had learned. It was as these thought were passing through her head that Iris noticed her and rushed over and hugged her.

"Thanks for coming, I know this isn't easy." Iris whispered and then pulled away.

"No, it's not." Caitlin agreed. "But I had to come, I am not sure why but I just had to."

That was when "Barry" finally seemed to stand up and take notice of what was going on outside of his mirror world, or wherever it was he was trapped. "Caitlin, you're here?!" He said sounding completely shocked and his voice had a slight echo to it from the device Cisco had attached to the mirror so he could communicate with the outside world.

"I'll leave you two alone, you don't need me here for this." Iris said as she quietly exited the room.

Caitlin walked up closer to the mirror and as she did so she took a good look at "Barry", taking in every detail she could. His hood was down and so she could see his eyes which seemed to have dark circles under them, indicating that he had not been sleeping any better then she had been, but there was also a hopeful glint in them, as if her being there was lifting his spirits, but he was afraid to say anything for fear of driving her away. He also looked leaner then normal, and the doctor part of her was alarmed, he wasn't eating enough and being that he didn't really have any body fat to begin with, and he was a speedster, that was not good, she was surprised he had not past out on the job already. This was the final push she needed, she may not ever get along with him again personally, but she was a doctor and she couldn't stand around and watch as someone put their life in danger she had to do something, still she wasn't sure she could ever take him back so the question was, what to do, she settled for just talking and seeing where things went from there.

Caitlin decided to keep thing neutral for the moment and stick to topics that wouldn't imply any commitment on her part. "So that was the new Wells?" She asked warily as she took a cautious step closer to the mirror.

"Yeah, that was him, he likes to be called H.R." "Barry" replied and he seemed to be trying to keep all emotion out of his voice, but there was a hint of happiness in it, that Caitlin guessed hadn't been there in a long time.

"So I noticed." Caitlin responded, trying to keep all emotions out of her voice as well. "Is it just me or did he not come up with any ideas of his own when he was talking with Cisco just now?"

"Yeah, he is kind of a con-man from earth 19, all he really does is write books, but he wants to help, and Cisco seems to have found some way to work with him and he has proved helpful, so we are letting him stay, for now." "Barry" explained lightly and it was if a weight was being lifted from his shoulders every time Caitlin said something to him, she decided to try and nip this in the bud by keeping to neutral topics, she didn't want to be his only reason for living.

"So how are things at work?" Caitlin asked.

"They are pretty much the same as ever except Julian and I have finally found a way to call a truce." "Barry" replied.

"Really?" Caitlin asked and the disbelief was written all over her face.

"Well it's really just staying out of each other's way, but there is a decent guy in there, somewhere so we are at least able to get along during working hours, so it makes him a little less of a chore to deal with." "Barry" said in response.

Caitlin then had to ask the one question that had been on the tip of her tongue since she had first seen "Barry" in the mirror. "So how did you manage to get trapped in there?" and damn it!, she screwed up because there was a hint of playfulness that slipped into her tone that may have given "Barry" the impression that things were going back to the way they were before, how could she have done that? Because it wasn't true, there was no going back, not now.

"Well I was chasing down two Mete-Humans one called Top who can make people extremely dizzy, and another called Mirror Master who can transport himself, objects, or even people through any reflective surface, and it also seems he can trap them inside mirrors if he wants to, I was stupid, they ganged up on me and here I am, a sideshow attraction." "Barry" explained and Caitlin could tell he was frustrated.

"Why weren't you more careful?" Caitlin demanded this time she couldn't keep the concern out of her voice. "Now you could be stuck in there forever."

"Sometimes the bad guys get the drop on me, these things happen." "Barry" replied and there wasn't much emotion in his voice.

"These things happen?!" Caitlin repeated back with disbelief in her voice and on her face and then added with a bit of anger. "You do know that if Cisco can't get that "glass" cooled down that you will be trapped in there for the rest of your life, however long that lasts."

"Yeah well that is the risk you run as a Meta-human crime fighter." "Barry" replied dismissively and then added with a hint of anger in his own voice. "Since when do you care, any way. I am not "your" Barry, so why does it matter to you."

"I don't and it doesn't." Caitlin replied quietly as she took a step back from the mirror, she wasn't ready for that question. She took a moment to think and then added with some force and emotion. "Just because you are not the man I married and I can't have a relationship with you, doesn't mean I want you to die."

"Why not?, When Zoom took you from me I wanted him dead and I killed him. I pretty much killed the man you loved, so it seems like this is justice to me, why don't you want me dead?!" "Barry' demanded forcefully.

"I guess I am different from you." Caitlin replied quietly as she looked down at the floor. "I may have to leave this city because being around you is too painful, but I don't want to see anything bad happen to you and I don't want to read about you dying from starving to death, or not being careful, when I log onto the internet some day."

"Okay, I'll agree to any settlement, just have a lawyer send over the paperwork and I will sign it, I am not going to fight this." "Barry" said trying to sound like he didn't care that she was leaving his life forever and for some reason this filled Caitlin with rage.

"Why aren't you going to fight this?!" Caitlin demanded and the words had left her mouth before she could think about them and they surprised her, shouldn't she be happy that this would be nice and easy and he wasn't even trying to find out where she was going. It was a clean break and that was good, right?

"What?" "Barry asked, clearly confused.

"You never give up, even if it means changing time it's self, but now all of the sudden you are just going to throw in the towel and you aren't even interested in where I am going and what I am going to do with myself?!" Caitlin explained with a mixture of anger and tears, she was so confused at that moment she didn't know how to respond to anything and she just was reacting without thinking.

"I don't have the right, I am not the man you married and I have hurt too many people, so this is my punishment, I just have to deal with it and move on. You are a better person then I am, and that means I don't have any right to fight for you." "Barry" explained coldly.

"Really, so that is what this is about, you think this is your punishment for hurting me when without you I wouldn't be here to be hurt?" Caitlin asked and the sadness inside her was starting to override the anger, was he really just going to push her and everyone else away because he made a mistake?

"Who told you that?" "Barry" demanded and there was a mixture of shock and anger on his face.

"Iris, she did what you didn't have the guts to do, came to the apartment and told me the whole story. The question I have for you is if you are any form of Barry Allen why didn't you tell me everything from the start, like the fact that I died on the night you were going to propose and you did all this to save me and you didn't care if we were together or not as long as I was alive, and that you lost your father to keep me alive, I deserved to hear that from you!" Caitlin yelled.

"I don't want you to be with me because you think you owe me something." "Barry" said and his face was turning red and he had to wipe away a tear from his cheek.

"So you don't tell me everything and leave me with the hardest choice of both of our lives?" Tell me how do you do that to someone you love?" Caitlin asked forcefully.

"I guess then we were both wrong and I don't love you." "Barry" spat out bitterly it was clear he wanted to drive her away but Caitlin wasn't about to let him off that easily, instead she decided to ask him a question that she needed answered.

"Why did you call me your wife that first morning, when earlier you couldn't get far enough away from me?" Caitlin asked quietly with tears building in her eyes.

"What?" "Barry" asked, he was clearly trying to recall the moment but it had been burned into Caitlin's mind since "Barry" had told her the truth and the question had been eating away at her ever since.

"On the morning when we got here, you looked at the fake Hollywood version of me and said Not even Hollywood can do this to my wife, why did you say that?" Caitlin asked firmly.

"I guess it just slipped out." "Barry" quietly admitted.

"Why would it just slip out?" Caitlin asked as she tried to remain calm.

"I guess I was trying to cover my tracks." "Barry" answered and Caitlin could tell even he knew this was a lie. Caitlin wasn't about to let him get away with a lie, not when she had come all this way for the truth and to make a choice that would change both of their lives.

"If that is the case then why were you trying to keep me at arm's length for most of that morning and the night before, why didn't you act like my husband then? I need the truth!" Caitlin spat out hard and cold looking directly into "Barry's" eyes.

"I don't know what the truth is any more, I thought you didn't want to ever see me again and I haven't known what to do with myself since then, I guess when I suddenly found myself in the future I had always hoped for that I had a moment of weakness and lapsed into it. I'm sorry but that is the best answer I can give you." "Barry" replied and he seemed to get more and more broken with each word.

"So you did love me, and you did want to marry me?" Caitlin demanded firmly.

"Of course, I wouldn't have spent most of the day trying to figure out how to tell you the truth about me and what I had done if I didn't." Barry said and for the first time Caitlin was seeing "her" Barry in his eyes, maybe Iris was right, maybe this was just "her" Barry from just over six months ago.

"Do you still love me?" Caitlin pressed, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I have been trying to get over you, but Yes, I still do, that is why I can't make this split any harder on you then it already is." Barry explained and he bowed his head in defeat and sunk to the floor of his little world.

"Then why don't you fight for that life or at least tell me everything so I can decide if I want to try and make things work out between us?" Caitlin asked as she too sunk to the floor and pressed her forehead against the mirror, trying to be as close to "Barry" as she could get.

"Because I don't deserve it." Barry insisted guiltily. "My dad wasn't the only one who died because of Flashpoint, Cisco's brother was alive in my timeline. So I tried to buy my own happiness at the price of other people's, I'm not a hero, I am just a selfish jerk who happened to get struck by lightening."

"Damn it, Barry Allen when are you going to get it through your head that you are not a god, you are just a man, a strong heroic man, but just a man, there is no way you could have known saving your mother and me would lead to Cisco's brother's death, who could have seen that coming?!" Caitlin demanded harshly, she needed him to get it through his thick skull that he wasn't responsible for every bad thing that happened to the people in his life.

"A man has to take responsibility for his own actions." Barry insisted and this more then anything convinced Caitlin that in some weird way this was the man she had married, he may not have done it yet in his time line, but she could see he had the same heart and everything, and she had to save him. She had gone with Zoom to save his life before, now she just had to find the right words to save him from himself.

"You can't be responsible for things you had no way of knowing were going to happen, that is something I had to learn as a doctor, if you don't have the full medical history of a patient, then if they die because of something you didn't know, it wasn't your fault. This is a hard but true fact I had to learn and you need to learn it too before you burn yourself out with guilt." Caitlin explained calmly but forcefully.

"How am I supposed to explain that to Cisco?" Barry asked sadly.

"You mean you haven't told him yet?" Caitlin asked in shock.

"He just made peace with his brother's death, how do I bring him back to all of that pain again?" Barry asked and Caitlin had to admit he did have a point, he couldn't change things so what good would causing Cisco more pain do?

"You have asked a lot of questions, now I have one for you. Why are you suddenly so ready to forgive me for erasing the man you love from your life and lying to you?" Barry asked with some force in his voice.

Caitlin was about to answer when Cisco and H.R came running into the room with the cryo-engine Cisco had built and quickly hooked it up to the glass, Caitlin hoped this would set "Barry" free, but it didn't work, and then before they could do anything else the Meta-Human alert sounded and they all went running out of the cortex.

"I wonder how many people are going to die tonight because I screwed up?" "Barry" asked with his voice full of shame, and that did it Caitlin may not have been ready to live with him as her husband, but she was sure in that moment what he was the man she married and she wasn't going to let him carry any more guilt on his own.

"You asked why I was so willing to forgive you." Caitlin stated and this seemed to get Barry's undivided attention. Caitlin then took in a deep calming breath before she continued to explain. "It's because something happened recently that reminded me you were not the only one with secrets in this marriage and I had been hiding them from "him" the same as you, and I now think you may still be the man I married, just a little younger, and finally of how important family is and how you shouldn't give up on it the first time you hit a bump in the road, even if it is a big one."

"I don't understand, what kind of secret could you be hiding from me in both timelines, and why would you do that?" Barry asked, clearly caught in the middle between shock and confusion.

"This kind." Caitlin said forcefully and then she suddenly let go and let her freezing powers take over, her skin turned blue and she was surrounded by a white mist as she reached out and touched the mirror. This did the trick, the extra push she gave to what Cisco's machine was doing caused the glass to become stable and a moment latter Barry had phased through it and back into the real world, and the mist slowly vanished as Caitlin regained control of herself and her powers.

"Caitlin how…?" Barry asked clearly shocked.

"We can talk about it latter, right now I think you have a pair of Meta-Humans to catch, before they kill anyone." Caitlin said and she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek and then whispered firmly "Now run, Barry Allen, Run!"

"I will, and I think I will take Cisco with me, because this time I have a plan." Barry stated and for the first time since she got there, Caitlin saw Barry smile, maybe things would turn out alright after all. Then Barry Flashed out of the lab.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a few hours later after Barry and Cisco's trap had worked and Mirror Master and Top were both safely locked up in Iron Heights prison, and everyone else had gone home that Barry and Caitlin finally had a chance to talk, they sat alone on the floor of the cortex and for once Barry felt safe taking the lead, he took Caitlin's hand in his gently and asked a question that had been bothering him since he had gotten out of the mirror.

"Why didn't you tell me about your cold powers."

"Because I was and am still afraid of them, I am losing control of them, and every time I use them I can feel Killer Frost in the back of my mind trying to take over and if that happens then you will have to lock me up or worse, because make no mistake, she wants you and anyone else who she can get her hands on dead." Caitlin admitted with a sob.

"Caitlin I don't care if we are together as a couple or not I will not let that happen to you, we are in this together and we will figure it out together, do you understand?" Barry asked forcefully.

"Okay, just please don't tell the others, I don't want to deal with them watching and worrying about my every move." Caitlin said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"I would never do that, it's up to you when or if we tell them." Barry said quietly.

"Thank you." Caitlin said and then she reached out and hugged Barry, once she had pulled away Barry had another question.

"So where do we go from here?" Barry asked and he clearly had no idea what the answer was, and Caitlin had to give it a minute or two of thought before she had an answer.

"The one thing I know for sure is that I am not going to Coast City and I am going to keep a hold of the apartment for now." She saw Barry's eyes light up with what she could only describe as a look of pure joy and relief, and she hated to be the one to rain on his parade, but it had to be done, if this was going to work out she had to be completely honest, no more lies. "But I am not ready to live as your wife again, at least not yet, we are not on the same page and getting back on that same page is going to take a lot of hard work on both of our parts."

To her surprise Barry nodded in agreement. "That's fair. We need to get to know each other and get used to each other again and after all that has happened that will not be easy." He said with his voice full of understanding. "How do we get back on the same page?" Barry then asked and this took another couple of minutes of thought from Caitlin before she could answer.

"I have an idea and feel free to stop me if you don't like it, but what if we lived separately, but we started going out on dates, say one a week?" Caitlin asked and Barry nodded his agreement to this and then added. "And as we get more comfortable, if that happens we can up the number."

"Exactly, and we should feel free to call or text each other any time." Caitlin agreed.

"Okay, but after that what do we do?" Barry asked.

"Let's not think too far ahead of ourselves, let's take this one step at a time, not put too much pressure on ourselves to take things too fast." Caitlin said as she stood up and Barry follow her towards the entrance to S.T.A.R labs.

"Yeah, don't rush things, got it" Barry said as he took in a breath and they stepped out into the cool night air.

"Oh and one more thing, until we know how this is going to work out I think we should both wear our wedding rings so that one, everyone knows we plan to do our best to make this work, and two so people who don't know about Flashpoint don't ask too many questions."

"I think that's a good idea, I am running out of lies to tell Julian to try and explain where my ring has gone." Barry said and for some reason this made Caitlin smile. Barry then reached into his pants pocket and put his wedding ring back on his finger and Caitlin made a mental note to put her wedding ring back on when she got back to the apartment. "Do you want me to flash you back to your apartment, it's safer then trying to find a cab at this hour?" Barry asked.

Caitlin thought about this and then agreed, she hung on and about thirty seconds latter they were standing outside the apartment that was her's alone, for the moment.

"Well I guess this is goodnight." Caitlin said with a nervous cough.

"Yeah I guess it is." Barry agreed and then added. "So would it be rushing things if I told you that I loved you?"

"No, I don't think it would be, because I think I love you."

"Then I love you, Caitlin no matter what last name you feel like using at the moment." Barry said with a smile and a moment later he had flashed away and he was gone and for the first time in weeks both of them got a restful and good night's sleep, there was still a lot to work out before things would get back to the way they were between them, but they felt they were on the right course and that was good enough for the moment.

 **Well that was the chapter you have been waiting for, I am sorry if it wasn't everything you hoped it would be, but I don't like easy cop out answers and I do have an adventure story planned that ties into the arc of them getting back together full stop, and I have something big planned for when that does happen and I want it to feel earned. I know I am placing some of the events out of order from the show, but I am more interested in a chain of events that makes this story work best then keeping to the order of the show, just assume unless otherwise state that events happened like they did on the show only in a different order and without the Barry and Iris love story anywhere in it in any of the seasons.**

 **Please let me know what you did and didn't like about this chapter, I hope it lived up to the build up. I am not sure how good it is but it was the best I could do at the moment.**

 **As always thank you for reading, reviewing, and following, you guys are the best.**

 **Oh and to anyone wondering why Barry's name is in quotation marks for part of this and other chapters it's because while the story is being told in the third person it is always from someone's personal view point, in this case Caitlin's and to her for most of this chapter this Barry is not the "real" Barry, he is just someone pretending to be Barry Allen. Once she is convinced that he is or could still be the man she married you notice the quotation marks go away, because to her he stopped being a fake, so he is no longer "Barry' he is Barry. It was an idea I have been toying with using in something I write for a long time, but didn't get a chance to try it out until now. I you want to see a great example of this sort of third person but always being told from the point of view of a character type of story telling on film, check out Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane.**

 **Oh and to the person who asked, yes I will be doing the Alien invasion, but it will be from Barry and Caitlin's POV, so I will not be writing the Arrow episode of it. But sadly this story will be on a break for the next week or so, while I complete another project, unless I get writer's block there, then I may write some more of this while I work through that, but in the coming chapters when it does come back every day of the week you have such events to look forward to as Barry and Caitlin's first date since he got back from Flashpoint, the** above **mentioned alien invasion, and of course Killer Frost. So stay tuned, thanks for reading and I hope you find the coming chapters worth the wait.**

 **P.S To the guest that keeps posting abusive reviews to my stories and chapters, I came here to get negative reviews and I am a strong believer in free speech, that is the reason I allowed your reviews to be posted. Still I always try to helps someone when I post a negative review and point out where they can improve, you have not done this and just resorted to abbuse. Site examples and I will correct them, but the first two or three pass of any chapter will have some mistakes in them, that is why I post them here, so I can get feedback from people with fresh eyes, that does wonders. There is a reason most TV shows have between two and three writers who just edit scripts.**

 **I would also point out that "A lot of typos" is in fact a sentence fragment, and is of it's self poor grammar. Also one thing that you should understand is that I am going for a certain style in this story, at least for the chapters that focus on humor, and that is a mixture of my own sense and P.G Wodehouse's general light style. He is a sadly over looked writer these days.**

 **Yes, sometimes I tend to default to older rules of grammar, and sometime even spelling because of the age of my favorite books, but I do make an effort to bring my writing up to date, but not too up to date as I believe throwing in a bit of the old school does make the writing seem fresh.**

 **I would ask that in future you cite examples and point out what is wrong instead of just stating how bad I am at writing, so I can know exactly what I can improve on.**

 **Also as much as I believe in free speech, if you continue to post abuse about other users of this site in your "reviews", then I will block them in future.**

 **So in conclusion, say all the abusive things you wish to say about me and my works, as I can take it and know that goes hand in hand with posting said works in public, but please do not be abusive to other users or I will begin to block your reviews.**

 **Oh and on a more personal level I have little respect for someone who hides behind being a guest, when creating an account, or linking to a Google or Facebook account is so easy. I find it strange that someone would have enough time to look up a story as old as "A dark Hour" and post about that, but doesn't have the time to create an account to the complaints can be addressed in PMs and you could help me correct the many faults in my humble little stories.**

 **I am not a proud man, but I do believe the purpose of this site should be to allow users to help each other become better writers, and not discourage each other from ever writing again.**

 **So in short if you wish for your reviews to continue to be approved by me you need to cite example and give constructive feedback, and cease to insult other members of this site. Those are two civilized request, I believe. Be polite and we will have no problem, continue with this type of rudeness and I will be ignoring you in future.**

 **I bid you good day, Sir or Madam.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Caitlin awoke the next morning feeling oddly refreshed and even a little excited as she went about her morning routine. She had not felt those feelings in a long time, not only had things gone well with Barry and her ice powers had helped save him(The first positive thing she had ever seen done with them)but she was also returning to work at S.T.A.R labs and she was looking forward to seeing Cisco, she wasn't sold on the new Wells, but Berry seemed to trust him, so who knew, maybe she could learn to at least put up with the man from Earth 19. Then there was the fact that she would have real work ahead of her for the first time in weeks, that excited her to no end.

As a matter of fact Caitlin was so excited and yes, even happy? That she almost left her apartment without checking the e-mail on her laptop, she was reminded to do so when she spotted it sitting on the glass topped coffee table. Caitlin quickly sat down and opened the laptop, she didn't see any new messages that were not spam, except for one. It was a message with a video file attached, the E-mail was from her mother. She clicked play on the file and was somewhat shocked by what she saw.

"Caitlin I am so sorry that I have not been there for you in the past, but I am trying to change that starting now. I have no intention of letting you lose your husband the way I lost your father, you have already been through that pain once, and I will not let it happen to you again." Dr. Carla Tannhauser began and the fact that she was opening with these words and had such a desperate look on her face made Caitlin's heart rate increase, as she knew her mother would not be using those words unless things were really bad, she just sat and watched the rest of the message as she became more frightened. "Caitlin I have a whole team, including myself working on your blood samples. Don't worry no one but me has any idea where they come from. The point is we will find a way to cure you, but until then do not for any reason use these powers! They are dangerous and unstable, and the more you use them the less control you will have over them. I am so sorry, just please be careful and you should try to stay away from touching people. I am so sorry, I will keep in touch."

When the message finished Caitlin felt the excitement and happiness she had been feeling just a few minutes before replaced by a mixture of panic and pure rage and before she even knew what she was doing Killer Frost had lashed out, it was only for a split second and Caitlin quickly put her back where she belonged, trapped in the back of her mind, but she was out long enough to freeze the coffee table on which her laptop sat and destroy said laptop with the ice she had unleashed.

Caitlin got up and started walking back and forth, trying to control her breathing, and not to panic, she knew panic was just another road that would lead to Killer Frost taking over. Slowly she calmed down. Nothing had really changed, right? She knew, or suspected most of this when she had gone to her mother for help. Still what she had done a minute before had shown how little control she had, maybe she should just run away, to somewhere that didn't have any people just to be safe? Still that didn't seem like a good plan either, what if being away from her friends and loved ones would just cause her more stress and that allowed Killer Frost to take over? Plus then if her mother's team did find a cure how were they supposed to find her? In the end as she calmed down she concluded that the only thing she could do was what she had been doing and that was to go on as if everything was normal and avoid stress and using her powers, one thing was for sure she couldn't let anyone besides Barry and her mother know about this or she would be locked up in the pipeline, with all the other Meta-Human murderers. She was not a killer and she would not become one, she didn't know how but she was going to beat Killer Frost.

It was as she was finishing these thoughts and considering if going in to work at S.T.A.R labs today was a good idea when she was feeling so overwhelmed and felt like she just needed a day to herself in order to think things through, that of course as it always does at such times, there was a knock at the door. So of course she had to walk over slowly and open it, and she found on her door step a very nervous looking Barry Allen, who had his hands in his pockets and was shifting his weight from one foot to the other. This was the last thing she needed, her maybe husband turning up right when she was dealing with so many conflicting emotions.

"Barry, is this your idea of taking things slow?" Caitlin asked and it came out sounding much harsher, then she had meant it to.

"I'm sorry. I just needed you to know something before you went back to S.T.A.R labs or decided for sure if you want to give US a chance, something I didn't think of last night. I can come back latter." Barry said sounding truly sorry and suddenly any hostile feelings Caitlin was having towards him just melted away, and she said the only thing she could think of to defuse the situation.

"No, I'm sorry. That was rude, I am going through a lot right now." She blurted out quickly before he could turn to leave, then she added in a much more quiet and friendly tone. "Would you like to come in and have some coffee?"

"I'd love to." Barry replied and a small smile played across his lips, just for a second and then he followed her into the apartment. Caitlin was in the kitchen with her back to Barry as she got out two mugs and filled them with hot coffee, when he noticed the one thing she had completely forgotten about when he had turned up at the door to the apartment.

"What happened?" Barry asked and he sounded extremely concerned and if Caitlin wasn't mistaken there was also a hint of guilt in his voice.

"Oh, that?" Caitlin replied trying to sound casual and not add to Barry's burden as she turned and placed the two coffee mugs on the counter. "That was just a little accident, I am trying my best to control these powers, but some time things like this happen. I am hoping for a cure soon." She was trying to sound as if this was no big deal, but Barry had always known her too well for her to be able to get away with that sort of thing when it came to him.

"Is that what you really want, a cure, or do you want to learn how to control these powers?" Barry asked gravely as he turned and looked her directly in the eyes, so she couldn't avoid telling him the truth.

"Barry, I can't use these powers, because every time I do, there is a chance that SHE, will take over, and I can't risk that." Caitlin pleaded desperately, hoping Barry would understand why she couldn't take this risk, she couldn't even bring herself to say the name "Killer Frost" out loud, let alone take a chance on becoming her. She was expecting an argument from Barry, but instead he just nodded that he understood and then he flashed out of the apartment and before she could wonder where he had gone, he was back and he was holding two bracelets with flashing lights on them in his right hand, she looked at him, puzzled.

"What are those?" Caitlin asked, feeling a little concerned, was he going to lock her in the Pipeline, to try and keep her safe? No, she knew him better then that, so she waited for him to explain.

"These are something Cisco came up with, they are a set of cuffs that suppress the powers of Meta-Humans, if you really want a cure and you don't want to take any risks these should help." Barry explained gently as he saw the fear in her eyes.

"Thank you." Was all Caitlin could bring herself to whisper and she grabbed the cuffs quickly and slapped one on each wrist, she instantly felt better and for the first time in months she didn't feel like there was a battle raging inside her, instead she felt some form of peace wash over her, what was more she felt warm and the cuffs were small enough that they could be covered by one of her normal long sleeved shirts. All she could think to do was reach out and hug Barry and whisper "Thank you." into his ear, husband or not he was still the best friend she had ever had.

"It was the least I could do." Barry replied, and again Caitlin noticed a hint of guilt in his voice. She then remembered that he had something to tell her so she slowly pulled away from him and took a seat at the counter and took a sip for her mug of coffee. "There was something you said you needed to tell me?" Caitlin asked, trying to sound friendly, but there was a note of dread in her voice.

"Yeah, there is." Barry said with a nervous cough and took a seat on the stool beside Caitlin and took a sip of his coffee before he continued and his voice was filled regret. "I am so sorry I didn't think of this sooner and I promise I wasn't trying to hide anything from you, I just didn't think of it before. This doesn't change how I feel about you, but it may change how you feel about me and if it does, I understand."

"Barry, what is wrong?" Caitlin asked looking over at him and feeling very scared for a moment, she didn't know what he could be talking about but after what he had just done for her she knew it had to be bad if he was afraid it would drive her away.

"I may be responsible for your condition and your having to go through all this pain, fighting Killer Frost." Barry blurted out, and this took Caitlin completely by surprise.

"What do you mean?!" She demanded and a look of anger spread across her face, just for a moment.

"In my timeline you didn't have ice powers, and now I come back from Flashpoint and you do, this is all my fault." Barry said as he hung his head refused to look at Caitlin as if he didn't have the right to do so any more.

Caitlin's first instinct was to reach out and slap him hard and kick him out, again, like she had done almost a month before. Still she remembered where that had gotten them and she took a minute or two to calm down and think about her response, she wasn't going to repeat the same mistakes again in letting her emotions make important life choices for her, when she did respond it was with a gentle forcefulness that surprised even her.

"Barry you don't know that this is your fault."

"How can you say that?" Barry asked as he continued to look down and refused to meet her gaze. This in turn just caused Caitlin to take his head in both of her hands and gently force him to look at her before she continued to explain.

"We don't know that this has anything to do with Flashpoint." She insisted as she switched over into scientist mode, then she added with a hint of guilt of her own. "I told you I was hiding my condition from the version of you that I was married to, so if I did have these powers in your time line and we were just dating how would you have known if I had them or not?"

"But they could be here because of Flashpoint, doesn't that make you mad?" Barry demanded and Caitlin could tell he was expecting her to be angry because he was angry with himself.

"A little and maybe we should put off our first date for a few days." Caitlin explained as honestly as she could. "But we are both guilty of keeping secrets and I don't see how this changes anything. We are still in the place we are and have to work from here to get to where we both want to be."

"Wow," Was all Barry could find it in himself to say as a look of pure relief and love passed over his face. "You are amazing Caitlin. Thank you." and there was a single tear in his right eye and this made Caitlin want to reach over and say something or do something, and she may have very well done so if the text message alert had not gone off on the phone in Barry's pocket.

Barry pulled out the phone and looked at the text message, and then looked back up at Caitlin. "I'm so sorry but that message was from Joe, he needs me at the house, he didn't say what for, just that it is an emergency."

"Don't worry about it, go." Caitlin said, because as much as she wanted to talk some more, she also knew Barry Allen wouldn't be the man that she "loved?", if he wasn't ready to drop everything and help family or anyone else in need and Joe was family, to both of them.

Barry just answered with a sad smile and then in the blink of an eye he had flashed away and was gone, leaving Caitlin with a lot to think about. Because the truth be told she was angry that Barry may have done this to her, but she also knew that she didn't want to let anger ruin her and Barry's lives, anger led to Killer Frost, and she wouldn't go down that path if she could help it, the question was, could she help it?

 **Alright I know I promised great things when I came back and they are coming with new chapters now coming every take, I am working on an old windows XP laptop my dad gave me so special thanks to him for being so helpful when my computer got fried. So if you liked this you have him to thank. The only trouble is that it is slow so it takes me a little longer to type. Oh and back to the great stuff, well it is coming starting with the next chapter and this wasn't supposed to be a chapter of angst but as I started writing it, this chapter did get away from me and it felt like it was it's own chapter and not part of any other chapter. I hope you liked the way I ended it, I did it the way I did because Killer Frost is coming, just not exactly the same way as in the show and this story is not going to be angst, the fun adventure is coming with some surprises, it is just taking a while to get there.**

 **Thanks for hanging on and thanks for reading, following, and reviewing my humble and imperfect little story. Well see you in the next chapter, which will have some fun in it, I promise.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Caitlin, you have to take Barry back!" These desperate and pleading words from her friend Cisco were the first things Caitlin was met with when she entered S.T.A.R labs for her first day back at work in almost a month. Apart from the brief hello she had gotten a day ago from her old friend when Barry was trapped, she had not seen him since the tenth of June and it was now the first of July, and this is what she was greeted with from her oldest friend that was still talking to her after the S.T.A.R labs explosion? This was what she got? No "How are you, Caitlin?", No "Great to see you!", not even a "Hello.", just Cisco begging her to take Barry back for some reason, what was wrong with him and just how out of touch could he be?!

Caitlin let out a disgruntled sigh as she responded to Cisco. "Look Cisco, I don't know what Barry has told you but we have to take things slow. It's the only way this will work out, he has to get back to where he was when we got married and I have to get used to the new Barry, if he is that bad of a house guest then just tell him to go move back in with Joe until he and I sort things out, I'm sure that would work."

"That's not the problem." Cisco explained as Caitlin stormed past him and down the hallway in the direction of the cortex, making it so Cisco had to jog just to stay two steps behind her.

"Then what is the problem?" Caitlin demanded, sounding annoyed. Today was supposed to be a good day and instead it seemed like she was being given one problem after another that she couldn't do anything about, she hadn't felt this helpless since Barry was in the coma for nine months that had turned him into a Speedster.

"Well since just like him you are a neat freak, you probably have not noticed just how much of a neat freak he is." Cisco explained. "And it is driving me crazy!"

Caitlin turned around to face her friend and was glad for his sake she was wearing the power dampening cuffs under her shirt or she may have just frozen him for being so selfish, instead she settled for fixing him with an icy stare. "So your problem is that is too perfect of a house guest?" She asked and Cisco seemed to miss the sarcasm her question was laced with because when he replied it was very earnestly.

"Exactly, I may be a slob but when I throw something in a pile I know exactly where it is, but now he uses his super speed to go around and clean my place up in the time it takes me to go to the bathroom, I can't find anything, and he doesn't even let me butter my own toast, please Caitlin you have to do something." Cisco pleaded, and suddenly all of Caitlin's annoyance melted away and she had to hold back her laughter, this was the Cisco she knew and it was good to have him back in her life, even when he was kind of being a selfish, unthinking, jerk.

"Sorry Cisco, but I'm afraid you are just going to just have to man up and talk to Barry yourself." Caitlin said with a smile as she turned and walked into the cortex.

"I was afraid you would say something like that." Cisco said with a disappointed groan as he followed Caitlin, who was taking her normal seat behind the desk with all the computers on it and then she tried to change the subject.

"So, have you gotten anywhere figuring out who had all the information about our team and sent it to Hollywood while I was gone?" Caitlin asked in an all business mode.

"No, we have had other, bigger problems to deal with since that came up." Cisco said with a sigh.

"Well I don't know about you but knowing someone is out there that knows all this stuff about us I feel like a sitting duck, I just keep waiting for someone to blow our cover." Caitlin said in a worried tone of voice.

"Yeah, I get that but it turns out that when Hollywood wants to keep a secret they are really good at keeping it." Cisco explained as he sat down in the chair beside Caitlin. "I mean they sent some people here to do research but I looked into all of them, who they talked to, and what they reported back to the studio and so far I haven't found anything that would explain where or they got their intel from."

"I have a thought about that." a familiar, yet also strange voice said from behind Caitlin and her heart nearly jumped into her throat as she and Cisco turn at the same time to face the man to whom the voice belonged, he was holding two cups of coffee and seemed way too full of himself and Caitlin wasn't sure how he had snuck up on both her and Cisco.

"H.R, How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?!" Cisco demanded.

"Sorry, I've always had the reflexes of a cat, can't help that." H.R Wells stated in defense of himself and yet somehow even when he was saying sorry he somehow managed to turn it into boasting about himself, Caitlin was now becoming really sure she didn't like this newest version of Wells that had barged into her life, then he turned his attention to Caitlin.

"Oh, I am sorry good to finally have you back as part of the team Dr. Allen, Latte?" H.R said with a smile as he took a step closer to Caitlin and held out one of his extra large cups of coffee and Caitlin couldn't help but notice they were from Jitters and that raised a question in her mind.

"No, thanks." Caitlin said declining the coffee, if this Wells thought they were going to be friends, well he had another thing coming.

"Fine, more for me." H.R replied with the smile never leaving his face as he stepped around the desk and started pacing in front of it, all the while drinking from one coffee cup and then the other. "I will never understand how you people take coffee for granted on this earth." Wells stated.

"Well I can't understand how you were able to go out and get those coffees without bringing the police to our front door, because the other you confessed to murdering Barry's mother." Caitlin said in worried and yet stern tone of voice.

"Oh, that." H.R said as he pulled what looked like a pen out of his shirt's pocket, while juggling the two cups of coffee he already had in his hand. "Well thankfully, I just happened to pack this when I came over to this Earth. I couldn't begin to explain how it works, but basically everyone on our team sees my real face, and the whole of the outside world sees the face of my business partner from Earth 19."

"You mean the guy who's work you tried to pass off as your own?!" Cisco asked pointedly and with a note of disapproval in his voice.

"Well, yeah but you didn't tell me I had the face of a wanted murder when you invited me over here San Francisco so I still say that makes us even." H.R retorted, Caitlin decided she needed to break up this fight before it got out of hand and get things back on track, still she was given yet another reason to dislike the new Wells.

"Alright, I get it, you two don't like each other." Caitlin said as she stood up and took control of the situation. "To return to the original problem what if the information about our team being leaked is part of the larger problems you have been dealing with, so why don't we focus on that?"

"Because there is nothing to focus on, we don't have any sort of trail." Cisco insisted as he sat down and started working on something on one of the computers.

"H.R, you said you had an idea of where we could find a lead?" Caitlin asked hopefully, with all of the problems in her life she needed to be able to go to bed that night knowing she was closer to solving at least one of them, or she would never get to sleep.

"Oh, Right!" H.R said as if he had to be reminded of what he had said just a few seconds beforehand. He then started pacing back and forth across the room excitedly as he started to explain. "Well on my earth there was a serial killer/terrorist who was once reported to have said that if you were good at something you should never do it for free, well that got me thinking and whoever blew the whistle on you most likely lives here in Central City, right?"

"I don't think that is true of everything." Caitlin mumbled back at H.R with her face turning slightly red.

Cisco ignored Caitlin's comment and instead H.R's caused Cisco to stand up and get a thoughtful expression on his face. "Right." He agreed with H.R.

"They were also most likely paid for their information and the most likely time that would have happened would be?" H.R was clearly asking a question and had no idea where his own line of thought was taking him. What shocked Caitlin the most about this was Cisco seemed to be able to work with it and finish the thought.

"When the research team was here." Cisco said nodding his head and was already typing away at his computer.

"Exactly!" H.R said and he was grinning ear to ear as if he had figured out the problem on his own. Caitlin couldn't believe the size of this man's ego when he had done nothing with his life, that however didn't stop her from rushing to a computer and typing on it as she added her own ideas to the conversation.

"So all we need to do is see if any member of the research team withdrew or spent a large sum of money during their trip here, and then we know who was the middleman for the studio and we can focus on their movements and find out who they paid off." Caitlin had forgotten just how much fun it was to work on solving a case in the time she had been away, she was sure Cisco would beat her with the hacking, but at least now they had something to go on, and she even had an idea of what to with the name once they got it.

It took about two hours but in the end Cisco found it. "Bingo!" Cisco yelled as he toss his hands up in the air drawing the attention of both Caitlin and H.R who seemed to be on his on his sixth cup of coffee of the day, " _No wonder the man is so annoying_ " Caitlin had been thinking to her self when Cisco called out causing both her and H.R to go rushing over to the computer he was working at. "I think I found our woman. Cisco stated proudly as he pointed at his computer screen, which was displaying a picture of a middle aged woman in business casual, who had on what Caitlin could only describe as a forced smile, it was a smile that was good enough to fool most of the world, but Caitlin had had to put on that exact same smile once to often herself to be fooled by it, something was wearing this woman down.

"What makes you think it was her?" Caitlin asked, because at that moment seeing a face and a name made her hope she wouldn't have to put her plan into action against this woman.

"Well" Cisco began to explain. "She has worked a series of very low level jobs for the studio for the past thirty years, including being a minor member of the research team sent here, she was sent overnight $50,000 dollars by the studio, and by the end of the next night it all seems to have been spent and suddenly after years of not getting any sort of screen credit on any movie she worked on, she is credited with being an executive producer on this movie, and days after she got back to the studio stand in characters for you and me were added to the film. She has to be the one who got the information from someone here." Cisco said as he glanced at Caitlin.

"Okay, it's her." Caitlin agreed grimly. "It says her name is Mary Parker, would you excuse me, I have a phone call to make?" Caitlin said and with a deep sigh she stepped out of the cortex and pulled out the last number she wanted to call on her cellphone because she knew it would be a long conversation, Felicity Smoak.

She had not been wrong, she had had to answer a ton of questions and from an even more talkative than usual Felicity and it had taken more than an hour to get down to get down to the reason for her call. Caitlin had explained their problem and then asked if The Green Arrow could maybe pay Mrs. Parker a visit, Felicity had agreed that this was a big deal and that of course The Green Arrow would want to help, so she would be in touch. Caitlin hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief, finally they were making some progress on one of her problems and for the first time in a while she was feeling good about herself as she reentered the Cortex and she saw that Barry seemed to have just entered there while she was gone and he had a grave look on his face. Barry noticed Caitlin the moment she entered the room he turned his attention to her.

"Sorry, but Joe had something he needed to talk to me about and then I got called away to the scene of a new Meta-Human attack, this is the earliest I could get out without Julian noticing me." Barry said apologetically.

"It's okay." Caitlin said with a forced smile, she could tell from the look on Barry's face that whatever was going on was bad, and this was going to be one of those days or even more then one day, depending on how things played out. "So, which news is worse?" Caitlin asked nervously, she figured it was best to get the very bad news out of the way first and then move on to the simply bad news after that.

Barry took a deep breath and his voice dropped as a look of pure guilt passed over his face. "Wally has started having Flashpoint dreams." Barry stated quietly.

"Well, that's not good." H.R stated rather quietly as he a look of alarm passed over his face.

"Yeah, the last thing we need is for Dr. Alchemy to be messing with Wally." Cisco nodded his head in agreement and everyone in the room became silent and Caitlin felt oddly out of place as if she was missing some important piece of information.

"Excuse me." Caitlin said with a cough to get everyone's attention. "But would someone mind telling me who Dr. Alchemy is and what Flashpoint dreams are?" she asked and she felt like a kid at her first day of school who was asking a really stupid question.

"Oh, sorry Caitlin. I forgot you are not up to date on all this stuff." Barry said and once again he looked very sorry and he was looking at her as if she was the only person in the room.

"That's okay." Caitlin said gently, as she tried to ease some of his guilt. "Just tell me what is going on right now."

Cisco stepped in to explain. "Well Dr. Alchemy is some scary masked guy with a stone that shoots some kind of energy beam and he seems to be able to give people Meta-Human powers they only had in Flashpoint."

" _I wonder if he can take powers away?"_ Caitlin briefly thought to herself before Barry took over and added quietly. "It always starts with dreams of their lives in Flashpoint, then they become waking dreams, and finally they get transformed."

"Also it seems that all but one of these people has turned into an out of control killer." H.R added, and even he seemed to be concerned about this last part.

"Caitlin, if Wally is having these dreams he is in big trouble." Barry stated as he looked her in the eyes and she could see nothing but pain in them, she reached out and took his right hand in her's because it was the only thing she could think to do to make things better, and the she asked the question that was on her mind the most at that moment.

"What powers did Wally have in Flashpoint?" Caitlin asked gently.

"He was the Flash over there, they called him Kid Flash, and he got killed." Barry replied simply with his voice just above a whisper and Caitlin could tell that despite this he had calmed down a little since she had touched him. More then ever at this point Caitlin wanted to be rid of her powers so she could be there for Barry without any damn cuffs, or having to worry about her powers killing him, it made her angry but she calmed herself down remembering that if she got angry it was possible not even Cisco's cuffs could keep her from becoming Killer Frost, and that wouldn't help Barry at all.

"I'm so sorry Barry, but now that I am back I will start trying to figure out ways to stop this." Caitlin said gently and for the moment she had forgotten that anyone else was in the room. "Bring me a sample of his blood and we can start working from there." Caitlin then instructed.

"Thank you, Caitlin." Barry said and his eyes were filled with gratitude.

"You don't get to thank me for this." Caitlin stated firmly and this drew a puzzled look from Barry before she added quietly. "He is family, we will figure this out."

"Okay." Barry said and then withdrew from her grasp and in less then a second he had flashed away.

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It was later that night when everyone else was starting to go home and Caitlin was running something like her sixth test on the sample of Wally's blood that Barry had brought her that afternoon, that she got a text and it was from Felicity, it's contents shocked Caitlin and caused her to go running out of her lap and into the Cortex.

"Guys, Felicity and The Green Arrow figured out who leaked the information on us to Hollywood, and you are not going to believe who it is, it was Blake Adder!" She yelled out to make sure everyone heard her.

"You mean the billionaire tech giant I almost ended up working for?!" Cisco asked with a look of complete shock on his face as he turned to look at her.

"The same one and he lives in mansion just on the outskirts of town, it's address is 1786 Whittaker Ave." Caitlin stated and she could see Barry getting angry as he slowly walked towards his suit and he went right passed Caitlin without saying a word.

"Wait, this makes no sense." Cisco said with confusion all over his face. "He doesn't need the money and what does he gain by giving this information to Hollywood?"

"I don't know, but I will find out." Barry said through clenched teeth and then he flashed into his suit and was gone.

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Barry flashed past the security at Adder's mansion without any trouble and he found the large dark haired man sitting in a library reading a novel, he seemed completely unalarmed by the presents of The Flash in his living room and when he spoke it was with a chilling calmness.

"Welcome to my humble home, Mr. Allen." He said in a deep but friendly voice. "It's about time you or one of your team figured out my little puzzle." He then motioned to a large expensive looking chair just across from the chair he was sitting in. "Please, have a seat. We have a lot to talk about."

 **Thanks for hanging in there and sorry this chapter took so long to come out. There are two reasons for that, one is that I couldn't decide if I wanted to do this and the next chapter before or after Killer Frost, and I finally decided on before. The other was that for the longest time the phone conversation between Caitlin and Felicity was in this chapter and while parts of it were fun, it mostly boiled down to three thousand words that were just recapping the plot up to this point and I hate doing that in my stories. Also I had a bit of trouble bringing Caitlin up to speed without making it boring for people who have already seen what has aired of season three. I hope this chapter didn't bore you too much and the next one will have some questions answered and some events happen and then I will be ready to move on to the chapters I am most looking forward to writing, my version of Killer Frost in this universe.**

 **Thanks for your support and for reading, following, and reviewing. You guys are the best.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Barry, can you hear me?" Cisco yelled into his microphone as all sound from the other side of the comlink went dead, but his only answer was radio static.

"I lost all telemetry from his suit when he entered Adder's house." Caitlin reported as she looked at her blank monitor that normally displayed all of The Flash's vital signs and his location, but was at that moment showing her nothing.

"Adder must have some sort of state of the art jamming system if it is blocking all of my signals." Cisco stated and for his friend's sake he was trying to remain calm but in his head he was having the same thoughts she was having, _"What if Barry triggered some kind of trap and had been blown up or something?"_

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"I said have a seat Barry, there is no need for you to stand on formalities with me." Adder said in an overly friendly tone of voice and then added, "You can call me Blake if it is all the same to you."

"I have no idea what or who you are talking about." Barry bluffed as he vibrated his face and voice so Adder couldn't tell it was him under the mask of The Flash, he took a step towards the older billionaire, but the man didn't even pay attention to his actions.

"Oh come now let's not play games, you came here because I know your secret otherwise you would not be here, and you want to know why I didn't tell Hollywood everything I know." Adder stated condescendingly, and he again motioned to the chair. Barry couldn't refute his logic, so he took a step back but he refused to sit down or stop vibrating his face.

"Let's just say you did find out something about me, why sell it to Hollywood?" Barry asked as he tried to sound calm.

"Why so you would find out that I knew without my having to send out a Tweet saying something like "I know your secret Barry Allen" of course." Adder replied sounding very pleased with himself.

"So what are you some kind of crime boss, who thinks he can control me with this information?" Barry asked, sounding almost board, he had been through this whole song and dance with Captain Cold before, it didn't work then and it wasn't going to work now.

"Ah, see every file I ever read about you said you were smart, you cut right to the heart of the matter!" Adder said with a smile and then added. "Still don't be alarmed, I don't intend to spill all the details on all the crimes you and your little lady and your best friend have committed unless you force my hand, as a matter of fact I admire you and think you are a hero. Oh and if you think your friend Cisco just recorded a confession on the other side of your comlink think again, I have all radio signals in this house jammed by tech I can't begin to understand, but take my or rather some of the very smart people who happen to work for me's word for it, when you get back to S.T.A.R labs you will find it is the truth.

The mention of Caitlin and Cisco made Barry's blood run cold, still he tried not to let how nervous he was show in his voice. "How did you find out about all of this?" Barry asked hoping Adder would give something he could use away when he explained.

"I am the majority stock holder in the world's two biggest internet service providers, and I own outright the largest software company in the world, and congress just gave ISPs the power to collect and sell any data you have on a computer or send over the internet, you figure it out." Adder said as if it was the stupidest question he had ever heard.

"If I am such a hero, why do this?" Barry demanded.

"Because I built my life and business on the principle that all power and information needs to be collected and controlled, even your's, you are not above making mistakes or putting this city in danger, you need someone to keep an eye on you." Adder explained calmly.

"You think you are the man for the job, and what makes you think you can control me with this?" Barry asked and some nervousness crept into his voice without him meaning for it too.

"Because I hold all the cards, the information is backed up all over the world and there are people out there who you would never suspect with instructions to release every computer file you have ever made since you became the Flash to the internet if anything happens to me or I act as if I am being threatened in any way." Adder said as a smile crept across his face, and then he added with a laugh. "Hell, why do you think I bought Central City Picture News last week?, It's so I can have control over what you adopted sister prints, and that it can be used as a tool against you, if it comes down to that."

"You think that will stop me from bringing you down, it didn't stop me from going after Captain Cold." Barry stated in the calmest voice he could muster.

"You clearly have not thought this through, Cold was a thug, I am a business man and I have no problem with you, most of the time. Chaos is not good for business, so I am just trying to stop you from causing chaos with your childish games of playing superhero." Adder said trying to sound friendly.

"That doesn't answer my question, why do you think this information can control me?" Barry repeated his question.

"Because you went and became a family man, and you have friends. Do you have any idea what could happen to the little lady if the feds were to find out she has been helping you place people in your own private prison? I really don't think she would do well in Iron Heights, and now that she is a Meta-Human as well as a criminal, I am sure it wouldn't take the police long to discover she is becoming Killer Frost." Adder said with another little laugh and that was it for Barry, he raced forward and grabbed Adder by the shirt and placed his vibrating hand less then an inch from the man's heart and yet the billionaire didn't seem to take any notice of the peril his life was in, even as Barry threatened him.

"You stay away from Caitlin or I swear to god I will kill you in the most painful way I can think of!" Barry yelled and he couldn't remember being this angry since he had killed Zoom, and it scared him but he didn't let up, instead he tossed Adder across the room and into a bookshelf and then ran over and grabbed the man again, looking strait into his bloodied face. "Whatever this is, it stays between you and me, understand?!"

"You are the one who doesn't understand and needs to learn who is in charge, and it's not you. Remember anything happens to me and everything I know gets released, not even you are fast enough to stop that." Adder stated firmly and broke free of Barry's grasp and stood up and calmly began putting the books that had been knocked down back into their places on the shelf, turning his back to Barry. "We don't have to be enemies in fact we are on the same side."

"I am nothing like you." Barry insisted.

"Aren't you?" Adder asked pointedly as he turned to face Barry. "We both want to bring order to this city and control everything in our lives so that nothing bad happens, we just use different means."

"Yeah, you use blackmail." Barry stated with disgust.

"And you use your speed and a private prison. Both means are frowned upon by the law but we use them because we know it is the only way to keep the city and people we love safe." Adder said as if he was talking to a child.

"Just what have you done to make this city safe, while my friends and I have spent years risking our lives?" Barry demanded bitterly.

"Why do you think that since Wells caused the explosion at S.T.A.R labs that this city hasn't become like Star city, with chaos in the streets and people fleeing the city in fear because of all the Meta-Human attacks and out of control crime? It's not because of you dear boy, it's because I have spent the past three years learning everything there is to know about every crook and Meta-Human in the city, and using that information to put certain targets off limits, like civilian houses and the police and fire stations. The only break in my control has been when Zoom came over from another earth, I didn't have any information about him." Adder explain as he calmly walked across the room and sat back down in the chair Barry grabbed him from.

"This still doesn't explain why you are coming after me now." Barry said through clenched teeth, Adder had him on the ropes and he knew it.

"Because you are threatening my control of the city." Adder stated and there was no emotion in his voice. "For me to control these crooks I have to let them get away with a crime once in a while, they have to believe I am as ruthless and as uncaring as they are. So I play at being a crime lord, take the odd kick back from them, and let them think that I can protect them from The Flash, but that act only works if you lay off them once in a while, or they have no reason to obey me." Adder said the last part with a scolding tone as if he was talking to a naughty child. "So now I have to take steps to control you, and if that means harming your friends and loved ones, then I am sorry but that is just a price you will have to pay."

"What do you want from me?" Barry ask and he sounded defeated, he couldn't see a way out of this trap and he would do anything to protect Caitlin, even if it made her hate him.

"Nothing much, just help me control the crime in this city and use some self control when it comes to playing the hero." Adder said smoothly.

"How?" Barry asked and he finally stopped vibrating his face because, what was the point?

"I know the trust fund Wells left you to run S.T.A.R labs is running out, so I will step in and start to fund the lab, in secret of course." Adder explained standing up and looking Barry in the eyes for the first time. "That way if anything happens to you, I go down with you, so we will both know we can trust each other and in exchange all I ask is that when I text you the location of certain crimes that are about to happen, The Flash just doesn't show up at those locations."

Barry took a minute to think about it, he didn't want to say yes, bending the rules had already cost him so much, but at that moment he couldn't think of any way out. "Okay, as long as no one gets killed, you have a deal." Barry spat out and these words felt just as bitter as they did when he had said the same words, more or less to Captain Cold almost two years before.

"Great!" Adder said with a smile and then added. "Try not to look so down, with you playing the hero and with me playing the villain we will soon have this town completely under control.

Barry couldn't think of anything to say, so instead he just Flashed out of the house, leaving Blake Adder to return to his book, smug in his victory.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took fifteen minutes but at last the readings returned to Caitlin and Cisco's screens and a second after that Barry had flashed in to The Cortex and was in his civilian clothes.

"Oh, thank goodness. We thought we had lost you." Caitlin said as she let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, and right away she could tell something was wrong with Barry.

"So did you set Adder strait?" Cisco asked and he clearly hadn't caught on to the slight stoop in Barry's shoulders and the way he wasn't quick to respond to the question, Caitlin could tell he had done something he instantly regretted.

"Let's just say Blake Adder will not be a problem any more?" Barry replied quietly.

"What did you do?" Caitlin asked with a knowing tone in her voice and then added somewhat alarmed. "You didn't kill him did you?!"

"No, of course not!" Barry yelled a little too defensively and then when he saw the way Caitlin was backing away from him he added quickly. "He had everything on all of us, and now we have something on him so I made the same deal I made with Snart, we will stay out of each other's way."

"Yeah, and we all know how well that turned out." Cisco muttered sarcastically.

"What choice did I have?, he was going to have you both locked up!" Barry spat back and his eyes were pleading for some kind of understanding from both of them.

Caitlin didn't like this deal but she could tell he had not made it lightly so when she spoke it was firmly but also with a quiet understanding. "Okay, we will go along with this, for now, But we keep working on a way to bring him down."

"Yes, of course." Barry said and she could tell that this thought had not accord to him before, but now he was on board with it. "He is going down and we will beat him." Then Barry added with a sigh. "Right now we have bigger issues, like Alchemy and what he is doing to Wally, this will keep for now.

Caitlin could tell from the look on Barry's face he was tired but she could also tell just from looking at his face that he needed a break from the constant troubles that were in his life, and from her readings she could tell he still was not eating enough to keep going at this rate. She decided to try something. 'Well my next batch of tests will not be finished until the morning so I think we can all afford to get some food and sleep."

"You can say that again." Cisco said with a yawn and then turned to look at Barry. "Hey Barry, are you coming."

"Actually, I believe Barry owes me a date." Caitlin said with a sly smile and this seemed to take Barry completely off guard.

"What...now?" Barry stammered, clearly shocked.

"Why not? I don't think there is going to be a better time for a while and I am sure there is a Big Belly Burger still open at this time of night." Caitlin said and she used that look on Barry that she knew he couldn't resit before adding. 'What do you say, are you up for it Mr. Allen."

"Oh, I am more then up for it, Dr. Snow." Barry flirted back and then he grabbed Caitlin and the two of them had Flashed out of the lab before Cisco could blink.

 **Well there is chapter twelve. I just wanted to let you know I am taking your feedback on board, it is just taking a while to get to it in the story, I hope this story isn't going to slowly and some people are still reading it. I know I had a long break but the past week has been chaos, but starting this week you can expect five new chapters a week.**

 **Oh and speaking of feedback I would love to know what you think of this new villain I have created and how he will play into the story, I need to know if he is working or not so I know how long to keep him around for, and BTW there is a clue as to how he will be brought down in this chapter and he is going to play into the main theme of this story.**

 **Any way if anyone is still reading you are the best and thanks for any feedback you give me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Barry and Caitlin's date and the start of Killer Frost are coming up next.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Have you ever had one of those days where literally everything seems to be going wrong and then at the last minute one little thing goes so right that it bucks you right up and you feel like you are on top of the world because you have totally forgotten all the things that have gone wrong? Well that was the type of day Barry Allen was having as he came to a halt about a block away from a Big Belly Burger and placed Caitlin back on her own two feet so they could enter the burger joint like any other normal couple. At least it was until Barry felt himself becoming extremely lightheaded, this was followed by him becoming so dizzy that he ended up tripping over his own feet and slamming both himself and Caitlin face first into the glass door of the burger joint they were about to enter.

" _Smooth."_ Barry thought to himself and then took a few steps back while saying "Sorry, don't know what happened there." This simply earned him a rather harsh look from Caitlin as she turned to face him, it was the type of look that seemed to say "I am not only your doctor, but I am also your girlfriend and so you can't fool me, Barry Allen!", it was in fact the type of look that caused him to take another couple of steps back into the parking lot, because super powers or no super powers, he was smart enough to be scared of that look.

"Well I don't need the readings that I saw from your suit tonight to know exactly what just happen!" Caitlin barked at him, and Barry could tell that she was hiding her own fear behind the anger.

"Really and just what is that?" Barry asked, playing dumb, he knew when she needed to vent and this was one of those times.

"You have not been taking care of yourself, and now you have no body fat and are in danger of passing out, or worse every time you use your speed!" Caitlin spat out.

"Well I have been busy, so I missed a few meals, so what?" Barry said weakly in his own defense and now he was starting to get a head ache and the neon sign above the Big Belly Burger was not helping at at.

"So what?" Caitlin replied in disbelief. "For anyone else losing this amount of weight would be a problem, but for you it is life threatening." Caitlin stated firmly, trying to leave no room for argument.

"Well it's not like there was anyone there to remind me of these things, I mean Cisco didn't even notice." Barry mumbled and he regretted what he had said the moment it left his mouth, and the raw emotions of the day's events coupled with how hungry he truly was were the only defense he could think of for what he had just said, but he knew that was no excuse.

"I can't be your only reason for living, Barry." Caitlin said quietly as she looked him in the eyes with a sad look in her own eyes. "What if something does happen to me at some point, if I am your only reason for staying alive this will not work out, I will not have you changing time again and wrecking other people's lives just to save me, and if something does happen to me, I want you to move forward, not backwards." Now there were tears in Caitlin's eyes and this caused Barry to pull her into a hug, with out thinking about what he was doing.

"Hey, you aren't going anywhere, so you don't need to worry about that, but if it does happen I promise you I will move forward. I may not ever get over you but I will not put other people at risk ever again to get you back by changing time. That is a promise." Barry whispered soothingly into Caitlin's ear and then he pulled back and looked her in the eyes and she had stopped crying for the moment so he added. "I don't know about you but I am starving, so what do you say we go inside, and I will order four of their biggest meals, and then if you still want to talk about this we can, okay?" Barry asked gently and Caitlin just nodded her head in agreement and the two walked into the Big Belly Burger with Barry stopping to hold the doors open for Caitlin.

As both Barry and Caitlin had come to expect since the first time they had shared a meal together in public, the cashier running the counter at this particular restaurant looked at them both as if they were crazy when they placed their order, even for a place that called it's self "Big Belly Burger" this seemed to be going too far and they heard the middle aged woman mutter something to one of her coworkers about being ready to call 911 if one of the two thin twenty somethings had a heart attack right there on the spot. Barry and Caitlin just exchanged a knowing smile at this reaction, they had long since learned not to let other people's judgments of Barry's eating habits bother them. After all he was a world saving Meta-Human, they didn't have time to get hung up on small stuff like this, and for them it was kind of an inside joke, watching the reactions of people who had no idea how much Barry had to eat just to stay alive, when they went out in public.

Fortunately the place was not very busy and once their huge order of food was ready Barry and Caitlin had no trouble finding a booth in a quiet corner in which to sit down and enjoy their meal. By this point Barry was so hungry and his headache had gotten so bad that he dug into his first tray of food at almost super speed, not caring if any of the small number of college or high school kids at their own tables noticed.

"You do know that if you eat at super speed you actually end up burning more calories by the act of eating then you intake by eating the food, right?" Caitlin said only half joking as she sat across from Barry in the booth.

"Oh, right." Barry said and it was clear that in his haste he had forgotten that rather basic fact, and so he slowed down and took a sip from his soda. Then he got a thoughtful expression on his face that Caitlin didn't like the look of at all, because she knew that look was followed by Barry guilt tripping himself. "I wonder if it was my being careless like this, that caused Adder to put the pieces together and got us into the trouble we are in now?" He seemed to be asking himself as much as Caitlin, and then he followed this by taking another big bite from his first burger of the evening.

"We don't know how he found out, as you said he could have hacked our systems to get the information he has, in fact that is more likely then anything else." Caitlin said with a sigh and then added pleadingly. "Could we please just not play the blame or guilt trip games, and enjoy ourselves? What is done is done, and the only thing we can do is move forward."

"Yeah, I know you are right." Barry said as he nodded his head in agreement. He then added more quietly. "This feels so good, you know?"

"What, eating this food?" Caitlin asked and there was a look of disbelief on her face, sure she enjoyed a good burger as much as anyone but she didn't see how anyone could describe eating at this place as "Feeling so good".

"No, not the food." Barry said with a smile and then added more earnestly. "Sharing a meal with you."

"Stop being cheesy, you aren't good at it." Caitlin said as she turned her head away as her cheeks began to blush bright red.

"I'm not." Barry insisted. "I thought I would never get to do this with you again, I mean there were the past few weeks and then before that you died." Barry's voice dropped just above a whisper on the last part as if it was something he didn't like to remember and when Caitlin turn to face him she saw that he was taking another big bite out of his burger and clearly trying to push the memory of what had happened to her in his timeline away. She reached out and touched his arm with her slightly cold hands and the way he flinched for a second before relaxing into her touch reminded Caitlin of just what Killer Frost was doing to her and why she needed a cure.

"Barry, look at me." She said forcing him to look into her eyes and he could tell if they were not in a public place she would have started to cry, but instead she held the tears back, but she still spoke from the heart. "I am here now, and I wish I could promise you that I am not going anywhere, just like I wish you could promise me that you are not going anywhere, but we both know how empty those types of promises are in the lives we have chosen to lead, so instead I will just promise you that I will do my best to make the here and now work, and enjoy what we have while we have it."

"Is that why you married me so soon after Ronnie's death, because we were trying to make the most of our time together?" Barry asked rather bluntly. The question made Caitlin choke on the french fry she was chewing on, she hadn't expected any questions about her marriage to the "Other Barry", from this one, at least not tonight, but thinking about it as she swallowed she guessed she should have seen it coming. If they were going to get back on the same page to make their marriage work, they each needed to know where the other was coming from, right?

"Yeah, that was pretty much it." Caitlin said as she took in a deep breath to steady herself and watched as Barry took a bite out of his second burger of the evening. "I mean once you declared that we were not going to leave Earth 2 at the mercy of Zoom, you and I talked about it and we decided that we wanted to make the most of the time we had because we didn't know how things would turn out, we didn't have much of an engagement, we found a justice of the peace the next day, got it done, and then went hunting for apartments." Caitlin explained calmly, but it was clear she didn't like being reminded of her other life.

"So, I proposed out of fear?" Barry asked and it was clear from the look on his face that he had gotten the wrong idea.

"No, of course not!" Caitlin insisted a little too loudly and this drew some looks their way so she lowered her voice as she continued to try and explain. "If it had just been that then I would have turned you down, but you said that you have been planning it for a while and were even carrying the ring around in your pocket waiting for the right moment, and when I asked you what your plans to take on Zoom again meant for us, it just seemed like the right moment." On the last part Caitlin did begin to cry a little and Barry felt like a heel for making her relive a life she could never get back, so he reached across the table and wiped the tears off of her cheeks and when he spoke it was very gently.

"God, Caitlin I am so sorry, I didn't mean to put you through that." He said and then his voice began to crack a little as he spoke his next words. "I wish I hadn't been such an idiot in my time line, I was doing the exact same thing, only the right moment never seemed to come until after we thought we had defeated Zoom, and then..oh god..." Tears began filling his eyes as he remembered his own pain. "I was the one reacting out of fear, I couldn't stand losing you so I didn't make the most of our time together because I thought it would be less painful if I waited until we knew we would be safe, but you were right. We will never be completely safe and now I just want to make up for all the lost time."

"Barry, it's okay." Caitlin said in a soothing voice. "This is a second chance for both of us, I mean now we have time to think about things, I am not keeping secrets from you, and we can do things at our own pace. We may not have lasted if we kept going the way we were, so maybe we should look on this as a blessing, instead of a curse."

"You really think things can work out between us, after all of this?" Barry asked with a sniff.

"I don't see why not, because believe it or not, no longer having this huge secret I am keeping from you has made me feel more free and closer to you then I ever have before, and the past few weeks have been hell on me too." Caitlin tried to explain and she hoped Barry understood.

"But did you miss me or "him"?" Barry asked and there was no accusation in his voice or on his face, just honesty and Caitlin decided it was a fair question and they may as well get things aired out as long as they were talking them over.

"Despite what I said before the more I talk to you, the more I see that you are the same person." Caitlin said firmly and all the tears left her eyes at that moment. "You just made one different choice and you have some more baggage, but so do I."

"Sorry, about that." Barry said in a remorseful tone as he took another bite out of his burger.

"Don't be." Caitlin insisted. "We were always going to get more baggage, as I said it is the life we chose to live, and as for the rest, well we both made mistakes and how many people get a do over on something like this and get to go back into it without any secrets between them, and with a chance to start with a clean slate." She then looked at Barry with completely clear eyes filled with sincerity as she spoke her next words clearly and very calmly. "So the real question is, what do you want Barry Allen?"

"You know if Cisco was here he would make a Babylon 5 joke right about now." Barry said with a smile and this got a small laugh from Caitlin.

"I don't know what that means, but it does sound like him to make a movie or TV show reference about now." Caitlin said with a smile.

"So I guess one of the mistakes I made that I get a redo on is not making you sit down and watch my complete collection of Babylon 5 DvDs, that is something I am going to have correct, and soon." Barry said and they were both laughing, no more tears for tonight it would seem.

"Okay, that still doesn't answer my question." Caitlin stated firmly, and then added just as much understanding. "If you need a few days to think it over I understand, but I would like to know where you see this going in the end."

"It's not that, I would just rather hear what you want first." Barry said as he started in on his fourth and final burger meal.

"Well I think you already know what I want in the long term, that is the reason why we got an apartment with two extra bedrooms, and despite what I said the other day I don't want to let someone knowing our secret stand in the way of that, but I can put that on hold until you are ready." Caitlin answered with nothing but understanding in her voice.

This prompted Barry to get a very embarrassed look on his face and his next words were said with a whisper so quiet Caitlin could just barely hear them. "Yeah…. about..that, would you mind filling me in on how we do...that?" Barry asked and seeing the shocked expression on Caitlin's face he quickly tried to explain. "I mean the last time I checked we still couldn't do...that, with out my hurting, or maybe even killing you...so how did we get around that problem?" and Barry was now squirming in his seat and looking everywhere but in Caitlin's direction. Caitlin then remembered that from his point of view they had never done "That" as it seemed every version of Barry preferred to put it and so this issue would still be very much on his mind.

"Well it all started with you giving up your speed to Zoom." Caitlin began to explain and her own cheeks began to flush a little and she was careful to keep her own voice to a whisper so that only Barry could hear her. "After I saw how your speed was drained I figured out how to use a combination of different harmless drugs to have the same effect, only it goes away after six hours when the drugs are completely out of your system, and I put it in the form of a red pill, which by the way Cisco can not run out of the lab fast enough when he sees me making a new batch of them, and the rest is history."

"Of course the down side is that I am out of action as the Flash for six hours," Barry observed a little too grimly for Caitlin's taste and he saw a strange look pass over her face that he had never seen before, and then it hit him how he must have sounded so he quickly added. "I am sure you are worth it, I was just thinking that we must have to be very careful about when we use it and do our best to make sure I will not be needed as The Flash before I take the pill."

"Oh." Caitlin said as she realized he wasn't saying what she thought he was saying and this was again a good reminder of why they had needed this dinner and this talk in the first place in order to get back on the same page, there were some things she took for granted that Barry now didn't have a clue about. "Well believe me, when we do have the time it is totally worth it." Caitlin said with a sly smile.

"That is something I hope to learn first hand, at some point." Barry said flirting back, and this brought Caitlin's mind back to her original question that Barry had so far evaded.

"So now that I have answered your question, can you answer mine? What do you want Barry Allen?" Caitlin asked firmly.

"I want us to get married." Barry said after taking a deep breath and looking Caitlin straight in the eyes without blinking. Then he began to explain. "I mean I know we already are legally, but I want us to do something because I wasn't there the first time, is that okay with you?"

"You know what I think it is." Caitlin said after giving the matter some thought.

"Really?" Barry asked and he sounded shocked, he was sure this would be one place where they would be at odds, but just like that it seemed to work out, he couldn't believe how his luck had changed from earlier that night.

"Yeah, I really do and if you don't mind I would like to have friends and family there this time." Caitlin said and she couldn't believe she was starting to get excited about this.

"Yeah, that sounds good, but how are we going to explain this to the ones who don't know our secret?" Barry asked thoughtfully.

"We can just tell them that we are doing it over again because we wanted something for friends and family after we rushed into it the first time." Caitlin said.

"That sounds perfect." Barry responded and he seemed happy.

"Good, because I want to invite my mother." Caitlin said and she was just as surprised as Barry that the words had left her lips. Barry reacted as if she had just dropped a live bomb onto the table, a mixture of shock and confusion spread over his face.

"I thought you two didn't get along and she didn't approve of you working at S.T.A.R labs, and she sure didn't like the idea of you marrying a coworker, and I am sure she will not like you hooking up with a lowly CSI, what changed?" Barry asked in a state of shock.

"We haven't talked for a long time, but I have been seeing and talking to her the past couple of days and I think in her own way she wants to make things right between us and I really hurt her by cutting her out of both of my previous weddings, so I would like a chance to try and make that right." Caitlin explained and Barry nodded as he finished off the last of his food and began to step out of the booth.

"Well if you are okay with her being there and want her there that is good enough for me." Barry said with a smile and then he held out his hand to Caitlin as he added. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah, I am." Caitlin said as she took his hand and stood up herself. "I feel like we are finally on the same page."

"You know, I think you are right." Barry agreed as they walked out of the restaurant hand in hand with smiles on their faces, they both felt truly happy for the first time either of them could remember, despite the dangers all around them at that moment all they could feel was joy and excitement for the lives that lay ahead of them.

 **Okay this is the third time I have written this chapter because the other two times it didn't feel right, so after reading a lot of P.G Wodehouse and watching a lot of The Flash, I hope I finally got it right and produced a fun chapter that moved the characters forward and didn't have too much angst in it, please let me know if I got it right this time, or even better what you think I got wrong and why.**

 **Well any way thanks for reading, following, and reviewing, and as always you guys are the best.**

 **Up next? Killer Frost, but it will not be exactly the same as the show, so stay tuned. :)**


	14. Sorry, my computer is down, again :(

**The message that was in this note no longer applies, so I got rid of it. Sorry about this and the wait for the next chapter, but I am back up and running now.**

 **Again sorry about the wait, but just skip ahead to the next chapter for Chapter 14, the start of** **both the Killer Frost and Kid Flash arcs, with my own twists on them.**

 **Hope you enjoy it. :)**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Warning:**

 **The next few chapters are going to be on the strong side of the Teen rating, because they deal with Killer Frost. This is for two reasons, one they are a little more violent with a lot more action, and two Killer Frost in this version of the story will be more open about certain topics I have handled in a 1940s film sort of way up to this point. So if you don't like those things and the fact that thing look their darkest just before the dawn then I would say you should skip the next few chapters. In my first go around at this when my computer crashed I did this as one long chapter, but now that I am having to rewrite it, I am splitting it up into three or four chapters.**

 **Now don't worry I will not give away any spoilers, except to say that in most stories I believe in happy endings, and you will get one here, but it will just take a lot of work to get there.**

 **Well with the purchase of a new computer, I am back in business, so I hope you enjoy the following chapters that cover this universe's version of the episode Killer Frost.**

 **Well enough of my babbling, Enjoy! :)**

Caitlin had never felt so conflicted in her life as she sat down at her work bench in the lab and with shaking hands tried to hide the carefully preserved coffee mug that she had brought from home in a Ziplock bag behind a pile of papers.

On the one side of the coin things were going pretty well for Caitlin, despite not having any leads on the Meta-Human called Shade and Wally West still having Flashpoint dreams, Barry seemed happy, and she felt happy, in fact she almost felt guilty for feeling so happy when so much was going wrong for others. Still she could not help it, things were looking up for her in a way they had not for a long time and if she was being completely honest with herself they were kind of better for her since Barry had returned from Flashpoint then they had been before, but she wasn't willing to be completely honest with herself on that point just yet.

For one thing there was something to be said for having a wedding that wasn't a rushed last minute affair and for having family and friends there, she and Barry had met for dinner the past three nights, and he had come over to what they hoped would soon be their place again, for breakfast that morning to talk over plans for said wedding. They had both agreed they didn't want to have it until they were sure Wally was safe, so that gave them time, and they also agreed that while S.T.A.R Labs offered space and privacy, it wasn't the right location for the wedding because Caitlin didn't wish to be reminded of her marriage of all of ten minutes to Ronnie. Then there was the fact that she was talking to her mother again for the first time in years. The nightly calls had started as just her mother updating Caitlin on her team's progress in trying to find a cure for her cold powers, but they were slowly turning to more personal topics, she could tell that in her own way her mother was trying to be honest with her and make up for lost time, just in case Killer Frost took her over, so Caitlin was trying her best to be open and honest with her mother, or as open and honest as one can be whilst hiding the fact that the man one was engaged to was a Meta-Human hero who could time travel, and that one was scared one would turn into a murderer, just as one had on another earth.

That was the other side of the coin, and why she had brought Barry's mug in with her that morning and was careful not to touch it with her hands as she put it in the protective Ziplock bag, she had to know something about the future before she went forward with the wedding. She couldn't go through with it if she was just going to turn into someone who would either have to run away, or Barry would have to lock up in the pipeline. So far her mother's team hadn't found answers to the problem of Killer Frost, and the fact was that in her darker moments Caitlin could hear the evil presence in her mind trying to get out, even with her wearing Cisco's power dampening cuffs on her wrists and carefully hidden by her shirt. This scared her more then anything else in her life, more than the time she watched as Ronnie flew into the vortex above Central City, More than the time Barry had given his speed to Zoom, and even more than when Zoom had kidnapped her. She was determined to protect Barry from herself, even if it hurt him for a while, she would make sure he knew it was okay for him to move on with his life if the worst came to worst. Hence the recording she had made for Barry if things blew up in their faces, and the emergency back up plan she was working on, on her lap top in the few minutes she had before she knew Cisco would come in. She was getting advice for the plan from Felicity Smoak, of course she had not told her hacker friend what she was really doing, she had just asked her for help with some computer systems when she ran into a wall. No one could know about her backup plan, not even Barry, or he would stop her, but it was the only way she could put her mind at ease with Killer Frost still in it, so she went forward with the plan hoping she would never need it.

"Hey Caitlin, what are you working on?" Cisco's voice said in greeting, this gave Caitlin quite a start and she quickly closed her laptop and turned the stool she was sitting on around to face her friend.

"Nothing, just a personal project." Caitlin managed to squeak out, not very convincingly. " _Darn it, Barry's bad lying must be contagious, or something!"_ Caitlin thought to herself, luckily Cisco jumped to the completely wrong conclusion.

"I don't need to know anything else, please keep these sorts of details between you and Barry, I don't need to hear them." Cisco said uncomfortably as he put his hands over his ears and quickly made his way over to the cluttered mess that was his own workbench, clearly not wanting to hear any more, this caused Caitlin to breath a sigh of relief because she didn't have a cover story ready for what she was doing.

It was at that moment that H.R Wells choose to enter the room, he was pushing a whiteboard covered with a sheet in front of him and of course carrying his two drumsticks, he was looking even more pleased with himself then normal and this got Caitlin's attention, not to mention it put her plan for that morning on hold for the time being.

"I figured it out!" H.R exclaimed proudly to the room.

"You finally remembered what you did with my power damping cuffs? Good because I need those back." Cisco huffed at the older man and for the first time since she had met the new Wells Caitlin felt sorry for him, he was after all taking the blame for something she and Barry did, but at the same time she wasn't going to trust this man with her secret. She had trusted two strangers in the past, the first Wells who turned out to be the Reverse Flash from the future, and "Jay Garack" who turned out to be Zoom and had even stolen the name Jay Garack and it turned out nothing about him was real, and both times people had died and she had her heart broken. Caitlin wasn't about to make the same mistake again.

"For the last time Francisco, I didn't take your stupid cuffs." H.R replied very defensively. "I haven't met anyone here yet, and even if I do it will take a long time to get to the cuffs stage, so why would I take them!" _"Okay."_ Caitlin thought to herself " _That was way more then I ever wanted to know about H.R, I guess now I know how Cisco feels around Barry and me these days."_

This just earned H.R a disgruntled huff from Cisco who then tried to ignore him, but H.R was too excited to let that happen and he soon had the young man's attention again as he explained what in the multi-verse he was babbling on about.

"I figured out the first stage in how we fight back against the plots of the sinister Mr. Adder." H.R explained and then like a magician preforming a great trick he pulled the sheet off of the whiteboard to reveal a crude drawing of what looked like S.T.A.R Labs, only certain empty rooms near the entrance seemed to have had some major changes done to them. At the same time Caitlin and Cisco looked at the white board, then at each other, and then they looked at H.R as if he was high on something, which to be fair he may have been, or at least he may have had too much coffee that morning, that was one thing they both knew they could count on being true.

"Okay, I can see you are not getting this, so I will explain." H.R said calmly. "Please forgive the crudeness of this drawing, I didn't have time to draw everything to scale or paint it."

"Have you been stealing from my Bluray collection too?" Cisco demanded. "You know I keep those in my locker for a reason, so that if I have to work late I have something to listen to."

"Well since you used your birth year as the code to open your locker I assumed you wanted people to help themselves." H.R once again found himself on the defense and this time Caitlin almost laughed at how silly it was getting, then she made a mental note to change the passcode on her locker, and her laptop.

"Okay, new S.T.A.R Labs rule, Stay away from my stuff, unless you want me to bounce your ass back to Earth 19." Cisco stated as he threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Noted." H.R said calmly and then without missing a beat he continued to excitedly explain his plan. "With a man like Adder the best way to discredit him, isn't to try and make people think he is crazy, clearly he is a very smart man or he wouldn't be in the place he is in today."

"I don't know, you don't have to be smart to make a lot of money, you just have to trick people into thinking you are smart." Cisco mumble.

"That barb against my character not withstanding, I think the best way to discredit him if he tries to use his blackmail threat is to come up with a cover that explains why people are coming and going from this building at all hours and how he could have made the mistake of thinking that the Flash works out of this building." H.R state as he pointed to the whiteboard.

"And how does that doodle do that?" Caitlin asked and for the first time she found herself interested in what the latest version of Wells to waltz into her life had to say, she knew it was eating away at Barry to be under the thumb of this crook so she would grab a hold of any life line at this point. Besides maybe the best person to stop a man who was conning the world was a man who had conned his own world, and who Adder didn't know about since they had never put anything about him into the S.T.A.R Labs computers.

"I am glad you asked that question." H.R replied proudly. "I am saying that we should turn the first floor in to the New S.T.A.R Labs museum, with a whole wing dedicated to S.T.A.R Labs' greatest creation, The Flash! Not only will this explain why we have Flash stuff here because we can always say The Flash donated it, but it will provide us with some much needed income, and if Adder does decide to go forward with his plan we can just say that he misunderstood what was going on while we were setting everything up!" H.R then banged his drumsticks together and pointed then both at the drawing on the whiteboard.

"There is just one problem with your so called plan." Cisco said as he cleared his throat. "Adder still has all of our records, it doesn't explain what Barry is doing here, and Caitlin and I are a little over qualified to just be working at a museum. How are you going to take care of those problems?" Cisco asked clearly still annoyed with H.R for stealing his cuffs and Blu-Rays.

"Well at least I am doing something about the problem, and trying to protect our futures, instead of just sitting around and waiting for the other shoe to drop." H.R relied defensively. At the mention of the word future Caitlin phased out and just began thinking about all the ways her future could go wrong, her mind was stuck in a constant loop going over every negative out come she could come up with and just kept looping over them again and again, she missed the rest of the argument and was only dimly aware of H.R leaving the room after he repeated some nonsense saying, and Cisco muttering some kind of insult about him at her. It wasn't until Cisco said very loudly "Earth to Caitlin." that she snapped out of it.

"What?" She asked and she tried yawning to hid how scared she was, she knew Cisco needed to know the truth, but she wasn't ready to tell him just yet.

"Wow, you were really out of it." Cisco said in surprise turning to look at her. "Is it Barry, or your recent visit with your mother?" He then asked concerned.

"No, it's just life is a little stressful right now, I haven't had to plan a wedding before, despite being married twice, and I haven't gotten much sleep lately." Caitlin admitted, telling Cisco as much of the truth as she was brave enough to at that moment, and she hoped it would be enough to get him to stop asking questions, Luckily for her it was.

"Coffee?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah, that would be great." Caitlin replied with a bit of a smile, she really hoped Cisco would always be her best friend because he knew just when to pull back and when she need to take her mind off of things. Cisco then left the room to get the coffee leaving Caitlin to once again work on her project alone in silence, she wouldn't let anything happen to Cisco any more then she would let it happen to Barry.

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The Flash was racing through the streets of Central City feeling pretty good about things in general, even if there were still a few problems he had to deal with in his life. Still he found that after having coffee with Caitlin, and now a quick run before work, he was exhilarated. There was no feeling that quite compared to dashing through the streets of the city he loved while everyone who was rushing to work seemed to him to be standing still, when it came to clearing his head of all his troubles. He really couldn't remember what he used to do before he had his speed, it was such a huge part of him now.

He was kind of looking forward to work today, Albert had become more friendly after he had nearly shot a kid only to be stopped by the Flash, so maybe there was hope for them being able to work together after all. There was a very well hidden good side to his coworker, that he had only just started to see, and that gave him hope, that things could work out at well work, Barry's thoughts seemed to be very repetitive that morning.

Things seemed to be going great with Caitlin lately, after their little heart to heart and he was now feeling happier then he thought he had any right to be, but he couldn't help it. That was when a shoe dropped, of course, because if there is one time life loves to give you bad news it's when you are feeling great about everything in life.

The Flash's cellphone got a text and he stopped running, pulled it out and looked at it. His heart sank, it was from Blake Adder and the message was short and to the point. It listed the address of jewelry store and it had a simple command at the end "Don't respond." The Flash clenched his teeth and he wanted to smash the cellphone and help any way, but then he remember what that would mean for his friends, for Caitlin, and he got control of himself, he had no choice but to play along with Adder for now and he hated every minute of it, all he could do was stand by and hope no one got hurt before he found a way to take the evil crime lord down.

That had brought his mind back to one of the reasons he had been running through the city in the first place, he had been looking for someone, a rumor, an urban myth, he had heard about for a while, but hadn't tried to track down before because it didn't seem to be a threat to anyone. A Meta-Human, some claimed, and one that if the stories were to be believed could help him with his Adder problem. He had been looking for the past two days whenever he could get away with out alerting anyone to his absence, and looking over the whole city for the person and hoping they would turn out to be friendly. So far he had not had much luck, still if the stories were to be believed that didn't surprise him, given this Meta-Human's powers. That didn't stop him from cursing his bad luck and thinking about how he would feel if someone was hurt in a robbery because he didn't respond. He needed to get his mind off of things, he needed to go to work.

Work turned out to be both better and worse then Barry Allen had hoped. On the one hand Julian didn't instantly jump on him, because for once he was early for work. On the other hand when he had offered to help Julian with the latest Meta-Human husk Julian rejected the offer because as Albert put it "One conversation and one drink doesn't make us mates, Allen", that had hurt. Still Julian was almost instantly overridden by the D.A who had come in and informed them that as of that moment they were both working all husk cases, after the damage The Rival had done to the city and one Meta nearly dropping a cargo ship on a hospital, it seemed she and the mayor wanted these Husk cases closed as quickly as possible.

As the D.A left Barry saw her run into Joe, and there was an awkward moment between the two during which he learned that Joe and the D.A were on a first name basis. He then managed to pry from Joe the admission that he had done what Barry and Iris had been bugging him to do for weeks, and asked her out, in fact they were going to see the forth of July fireworks that night in the park, the same as Barry and Caitlin planned to. That lifted Barry's spirits right up, he did have something to look forward to that night, and things seemed to be getting better for Joe. That was when the other Shoe dropped, it seemed the owner of the jewelry star had been hurt when the robber pistol whipped him, hard. He was in the hospital and expected to make it, but the cops hadn't caught the thief who had made a get away on a motorcycle firing an Uzi at the officers chasing him the whole time, that didn't make Barry feel any better. He knew that if he had been there he could have stopped it all. He didn't know who he was more upset with, Adder for blackmailing him, or himself for giving in, but he still couldn't see a way out of the situation. Joe walked away leaving Barry unable to focus on his work, just like in Flashpoint he was happy now, but it came at the expense of other people, and he knew he couldn't live with that. By the time it was time to go to lunch Barry was a wreck, and he knew he needed to talk to someone so while Julian wasn't looking he flashed out of the precinct and to S.T.A.R labs.

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After hearing Cisco and H.R have another argument over the missing cuffs, Caitlin decided she couldn't take it and more, plus she needed to just get this over with. So she grabbed the Ziplock bag she had Barry's coffee mug in and march into the Cortex, where Cisco had been left alone and put on her best brave face, this was it, now she would know for sure what the future held for both herself and Barry.

Caitlin spotted a half finished glass of water on Cisco's desk as she walked up to it and stood in front, this gave her an idea on how to approach the problem of her confession. She tried swallowing, but she found that her mouth was completely dry. There was nothing for it, but to just go through with it, just like ripping off a band-aid right?, only this band-aid could destroy her own and everyone she cared about's lives.

"Cisco." Caitlin started causing him to look up at her from his seat. "H.R didn't take your cuffs, Barry and I did." She said as she rolled up her sleeves and removed the cuffs, carefully placing them on the desk. This drew a confused look from Cisco.

"Is this some kind of bold fashion choice, because you're not a Me..." Cisco didn't get to finish his question before Caitlin picked up the glass of water and completely froze it.

"Surprise." Caitlin whispered as a sad smile past over her face and she placed the glass on the desk and walked slowly over to Cisco's side of it, and she could tell he was concerned.

"That is why you went to see your mother, because you wanted her help getting rid of your powers." Cisco stated as all the pieces fell into place for him.

"That's right." Caitlin confirmed sadly and she knew she needed to get this done before H.R burst into the room with some other crazy idea, so she pressed on. "Now I need your help, I need you to vibe Barry and me." She said as she placed the coffee mug on the desk. "I need to know if I become her, I am already trying to fight her off, but if I hurt Barry I need to get away, Please Cisco I have to know if in the future I hurt Barry." She pleaded with her friend and help out her right hand for him to hold.

All Cisco could do was nod that he understood what she was asking of him and why, as he stood up and with one hand took a hold of Caitlin's and with the other he held the coffee mug he carefully removed from the Ziplock bag, he knew why Caitlin had put it in there so that Barry would be the last person to have come into contact with it, and he would get a clear vibe off of it. Caitlin saw the look in his eyes that he got every time he was vibing, and she waited what felt like hours for the results. Finally Cisco came out of the vibe and a look quickly past over his face that Caitlin couldn't read, before he smiled.

"So, is it good news?" Caitlin asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I didn't see anything bad." Cisco replied looking more happy. "As long as you wear these cuffs you and Barry are fine." He said as he placed the cuffs back on Caitlin's wrists where they belonged. Caitlin couldn't help but breath a huge sigh of relief and a smile broke out on her face as she pulled Cisco into a tight hug.

"Thank you, you have no idea what a weight this is off of my mind!" She said.

"Any time." Cisco replied as he pulled away from the hug.

A second or two passed before Barry flashed into the room. "Caitlin can I talk to you?" Barry asked and it was clear he was upset about something.

"I'll let you two have the room." Cisco said as he was already heading out of the Cortex and if Barry hadn't of been so distracted he would have noticed how lifeless his friend's voice sounded as he passed him.

"Thanks." Barry said as he made his way over to Caitlin and sat down in the chair Cisco had been in. Caitlin instantly noticed the pained look on his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked and she was afraid she already knew the answer.

"I got my first text from Adder today." Barry said as he looked at the floor, his voice full of shame. Caitlin simply put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and listened while he described the events of the day.

"Barry, you knew this would happen, and at least no one died. It sounds like everything is okay. You can't be on call 24/7, you know that, this could just have easily have happened when you were off duty." Caitlin said in a comforting tone.

"But it didn't!" Barry said forcefully as he looked up at her, his eyes full of angry tears. "I chose not to help, because it would hurt me, I chose myself over that man at the jewelry store, and the worst part about it is I think I would do it again, Because this is exactly what happened in Flashpoint, I bought my happiness at the expensive of others!"

"Barry, that's not true." Caitlin insisted as she bent down so she could look him in the eyes.

"Isn't it?!" Barry demanded. "Because it feels the same to me."

"No it isn't!" Caitlin insisted forcefully, now that she knew their future was okay she wasn't going to take a chance on losing it again. That was when she felt a small that scary voice whispering in the back of her mind, the voice seemed to say _"Let me out, we both love The Flash and I, not you are the one who can protect him. So if you really love him you will let me unleash your true power so we can save him, and Adder can get what is coming to him. No one should be allowed to mess with the man we both love and live!"_ Caitlin shook her head and pushed the voice aside, she would not listen, she would help Barry, but in her own way that would not harm him or anyone else, even if a part of her did want to see Adder die slowly and painfully at that moment, but she knew she would lose Barry if she did that and that was not the way forward. So she pushed ahead as best as she could on her own. "This is no different then the deal you made with Captain Cold. You agreed to give him space so that you could take him down latter. That is all you are doing here. We will take Adder down, we just need to buy some time and that is what we are doing." Caitlin's tone then soften as she saw Barry grow less tense. "I know this is hard for you, not helping, it's hard for me too, but it's the only way to beat him, and we will beat him and save all the lives he would have otherwise taken over the years."

"Thanks, Cait." Barry said after given the matter a few moments of thought and then he added lovingly. "I guess I knew that in my head, but I needed to hear you say it, I don't know what I would do with out you."

"You would be fine." Caitlin said a little sadly but she was also starting to blush at the same time, but now it was Barry's turn to be forceful.

"No, I wouldn't. You keep me grounded and you keep me going." Barry insisted. "There is no Flash without Caitlin." He said and he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead that was interrupted by Caitlin's cellphone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that the caller I.D said it was from Joe. She quickly stood up and took the call.

"Hello." She answered.

"Caitlin it's Joe." The voice on the other end of the line said and he sounded panicked in a way she had never heard him sound before and it sounded like he was driving and there was someone crying out in pain in the background of the call. "I need you to get ready and call Barry and tell him to get over to S.T.A.R labs ASAP."

"Of course Joe, what is wrong?" Caitlin asked and then she put the call on speakerphone so she and Barry could both hear it.

Then both their faces fell as their worst fears were confirmed. "It's Wally!, he called me from home. He is now having Alchemy dreams while he is awake and he is in pain, just be ready!" Joe then ended the call leaving Caitlin and Barry to look at each other with a look of pure fear all over their faces. Things had just gotten a whole lot worse.

 **Thanks to everyone who held in there, and if you are still reading, thank you very much. I would like to send a special shout out to my friends Write-to-You and g.c Flash who have written some great works and given me some great support. Also Darkness 0032 for giving me some new ideas for this story that I will never get to use now.**

 **Sorry it took so long, but I had to find a new placeholder PC until I can get a real one on Ebay, before I could go on writing this story because my old PC got fried by some bad wiring in my house.**

 **To anyone who is still out there I would just like to say thank you for your support and I know this chapter didn't do much different from the TV show but it is needed set up, the plot will start to do it's own thing again soon, and I am back to doing regular updates, I will get at least three chapters posted every week from now on so I don't leave you hanging. I think you will be surprised by the turn the Killer Frost story will take.**

 **Again thanks for all your support and all reviews both negative and positive are welcome. They sometimes help keep me going when I am feeling too depressed to write. So again thank you all for giving me the support I need.**

 **You guys are the best.**

 **Oh and to Darkness0032 I don't want to give spoilers away, but I will say you are not far off, but that doesn't mean Barry or anyone else is truly safe around her, I hope this newly edited version of the chapter will make that clear if you reread it. It will be complicated in the coming chapters, so stay tuned.**

 **On and Write-To-You thanks for a great piece of basic writing advise that I somehow forgot and is now helping me write a better story and a better villain. Hope you enjoy what is to come, even if it does have some angst in it.**

 **Well stay tuned the next chapter is where things really start to come to a head.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

By that afternoon Caitlin had spent most of the day running every test she could think of on Wally West and some that she didn't have a notion she knew how to do before that day. She was working hard but a part of her wasn't just working for Wally, she was ashamed to admit it to herself but part of her was working for herself. Caitlin figured that if she could find a cure for Wally and she could find a cure for his "attacks" as the others had taken to calling them, then maybe she could find a cure for herself and get Killer Frost out of her system once and for all. Wally was taking it rather well, better than Joe or Iris were, he would go an hour maybe more between attacks and then he would spend about five minutes it was up to now having a flashback to Flashpoint, and the whole time he would be crying out in pain. Barry had to go to work at some point, but now it was time for Caitlin to call him back to S.T.A.R Labs and explain everything she knew and what she could do and as the whole team gathered in the training room she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she knew they were all looking to her to fix this, but she had failed.

Caitlin delivered her report and explained to everyone as best as she could that Wally wasn't getting better, only worse and she didn't know how to stop it. She explained that the dream and pain centers of Wally's brain were being lit up, by a means she couldn't understand, and that he was in a constant waking dream, so he wasn't getting any real rest and why that was a bad thing long term. She explained how she could counter some of it with drugs for the moment, but with each attack getting worse, that was not a long term solution. Alchemy was getting into Wally's head and causing him to change, she was all out of ideas on how to stop it. She then looked around the silent room and could see the shocked and depressed looks on everyone's faces and she knew she had let them all down. Maybe if she didn't have Killer Frost in her head distracting her she could have found the answer, but the fact was that she did and now Killer Frost was causing her to lose a patient and a friend.

"I'm sorry." Was all she could bring herself to say to the room weakly, before anyone else could respond to her surprise it was H.R who spoke up with an idea.

"I have an idea, if we can't stop Alchemy from getting to Wallace, maybe we can instead control the situation." H.R began to explain a little too excitedly for everyone's tastes, then again he was the only one there with any sort of plan so they all took notice and listened. "What I propose is that we stick Wallace in the Pipeline, nothing gets in or out of those cells, and that will keep him from getting hurt while we deal with the real problem."

No one seemed to like this idea but it was Joe who found his voice first. "You want to stick my kid in the Pipeline like he is some sort of criminal?" Joe asked his voice filled with a mixture of disbelief and anger.

H.R Didn't let this slow him down as he banged his two drumsticks together. "I agree with Joe, I think we put Wallace in the Pipeline to keep him safe." H.R stated as if it was now Joe's idea and this caused everyone to start arguing except Wally who just had a thoughtful look on his face as he sat on the training room floor, he then got a determined look on his face and stood up and he spoke calmly. "H.R is right." He said shocking everyone in the room. "Until we figure this out I don't want to hurt anyone, the Pipeline is our best chance of stopping that from happening." Everyone could tell he was forcing himself to say these words since it was a well known fact that he wanted super speed and the power to help others more then anyone else in the room.

"Wally, are you sure?" Joe asked and he was clearly trying to talk his son out of this.

"Yeah, I am sure." Wally said Firmly and then added looking over at Barry with a weak smile. "I could use something to read in there so could you speed by my place and pick up my college text books, this will at least give me a chance to catch up on all my classes."

"Sure thing." Barry replied a little glumly and then he flashed out of the room.

"You had better be caught up on all of your classes." Joe stated in his best "Cop Dad" voice looking over at his son.

Barry returned a few moments later with a huge armful of books and papers. "Here they are, I think I got everything." Barry said as he handed the stack to Wally he seemed to struggle with it for a second before getting a firm grip on everything.

"Thanks." Wally said with a grateful smile, and this just made Caitlin feel more guilty about failing at her job. _"Who on earth was grateful to be locked in a small room with a bunch of text books, okay maybe she would be some days, but that wasn't the point, she had failed him and he was grateful?!"_ Caitlin thought to herself, and she vowed she was going to fix her failure she just had no idea how she was going to do it, but she would do it.

"Well I am going to call Cecil and tell her that tonight is off." Joe stated simply as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, this was met with a loud "No!" yelled out at the exact same time by both Wally and Iris. "What?" Joe replied with a questioning look on his face.

Iris was the one to answer his question first, and when she did she was calm with an almost forced cheer, she and Wally both knew the D.A was the first women their father had been close to since their mother left before Wally was born. "What I think Wally and I are trying to say is that you are always here for us as dad, but we don't want you to stop doing normal things."

"Besides, nothing is likely to happen tonight any way, so you would be canceling for nothing." Wally added.

"Yeah, Wally is right. So go just be Joe for tonight and watch the fireworks." Iris finished.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked them and he clearly was not sure this was a good idea, but he knew forcing the issue would be a worse idea.

"Yes!" They both yelled out forcefully.

"Alright." Joe conceded.

"Yeah, don't worry I will be here to keep an eye on him." Caitlin stated and she could see a disappointed look pass over Barry's face for a brief second, but at that moment she didn't really care, she wasn't going to let Wally down any more then she already had.

Joe's reaction to this was to look a little like a deer caught in the headlights, clearly he had not been counting on this being a one on one date. "Wait I told Cecil that we were joining you and Barry, now am I going to be the only one who shows up?" He asked and his voice had a somewhat alarmed tone to it.

"No." H.R piped in walking to Joe's side in a show of support. "We don't have whatever these fireworks are on my earth and they would make a great addition to my novel, so I'll come with you."

"Thanks." Joe replied uneasily, he clearly found this to be of little comfort.

"So will Barry and Caitlin." Iris said forcefully and Caitlin and Barry knew that tone all too well and knew it was no use arguing with her. "Cisco and I can keep an eye on Wally, while all of you go off and do your thing, if anything does happen, Barry can flash Caitlin back here in a few seconds." Iris explained and as much as she hated to admit it, Caitlin knew Iris had a point.

"You don't mind, do you Cisco?" Iris asked looking over at him.

"Sure it's not like I have a date." Cisco muttered as he shifted from foot to foot.

"Good, see dad all under control." Iris stated with a smile and Wally walked up beside her to show his support for her plan. So everyone gave in and started making plans for the evening.

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Despite how unworried Wally had appeared when they locked him in the pipeline Caitlin could tell it didn't sit right with Barry or Joe, and why should it? The Pipeline was for criminals and people who were a danger to others, like herself, not good people like Wally.

Still as they got to the park and took their seats things seem to lighten up and start going well as they waited for the sun to set, it was a little cool for July weather but that just meant Caitlin wasn't sweating in the full length shirt she had to wear to cover up the cuffs she had on her wrists. Cecil seemed nice when she was introduced to her, and things seemed to be going well for everyone. That was until she was introduced to H.R, that was when a chain of events accord that Joe clearly couldn't stand and neither could anyone else. H.R just couldn't shut up about himself or stop flirting with the D.A, Caitlin could tell that Joe was having to restrain himself from pulling his gun on the con man from Earth 19, and she couldn't blame him, because she knew the feeling all too well. Once in a while women that The Flash saved would throw themselves at him, and it didn't matter to her that they didn't know he was married or that he would never go out with them, it still made her want to freeze them solid, she had felt the need the worst of all when the year before Barry had come back from Earth 38 and couldn't stop talking about someone he had met there called Super-Girl, she know nothing had happened and Barry was most likely just going on about her because in that universe they had aliens and Barry had met one, a really pretty one from the way Barry described her, still that didn't stop her from wanting to go to earth 38 and freeze the bitch for being so alien and nice, and that feeling had nothing to do with Killer Frost.

Then the sun had finally set and the fireworks were about to begin when suddenly out of nowhere shade appeared and the crowd began running in terror. Joe was busy getting Cecil to safety, while Caitlin and H.R ran to the S.T.A.R Labs van they had parked in the lot, and Barry flashed to S.T.A.R Labs, got his suit and was back in the park in the form of The Flash a moment later.

In the back of the van all Caitlin and H.R could do was listen as Barry got his butt kicked by a Meta-Human he could not touch. "Hang on Barry!" Caitlin yelled into the com and she used the lap top to get Cisco on the line, as she did so H.R had to offer his two cents, of course.

"You know he is basically a shadow, maybe he doesn't like the light." Caitlin frowned but before she could say anything about this idea Cisco piped in.

"That's a good idea!" Cisco stated and then Caitlin caught on as Cisco explained to both her and Barry. "The light will slow down the movement of his particles and he will become solid."

"How do we light this place up?" H.R asked.

"Well the fireworks are controlled by a computer so if I hack into it, I can set them all off at once and that should be enough light for this to work, but we will only have one shot at this so the timing has to be perfect." Caitlin could sense some stress in Cisco's voice and she wondered way and then as Barry spoke next she remembered something.

"Next time he knocks me on my ass light this place up." Barry ordered.

At that moment Caitlin didn't care about her secret, she just know Barry would have a very small window to take Shade down, and he couldn't do it without her cuffs, besides H.R had just proven himself a member of the team by coming up with the idea, so she supposed she could trust him. "Barry is going to need these." Caitlin stated as she quickly ripped the cuffs off of her wrists and threw the door to the van open and raced off in Barry's direction, leaving a very confused H.R to yell after her "You took the cuffs?!"

When Caitlin found Barry he had clearly just been knocked flat on his back by Shade who was standing over him and her heart was in her throat, that was when she heard Barry order "Now, Cisco!" and a few seconds later the dark sky was lit up bright as day by tons of firework and this seemed to do the trick as Shade shrunk down to a normal man. Then like a perfectly in sync machine she tossed Barry the cuffs, he caught them in mid air, and after delivering a knock out punch to Shade, and he quickly slapped the cuffs on Shade's wrists. He then smiled at her. _"That felt good."_ Caitlin thought to herself as she and Barry made their way back to the S.T.A.R Labs van, with Barry hauling the knocked out Shade over his shoulder.

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When Barry got to the Pipeline in S.T.A.R Labs and flashed Shade into his cell he was shocked to see Cisco helping Iris load an unconscious Wally back into his own cell. "What happened?" Barry asked, and his voice was full of concern.

"I think it would be better if I gave everyone the story at once, in the Cortex. Let's just say it was a good thing Dad wasn't there to give Wally any boxing lessons." Iris replied.

"You got that right, She's got a mean left cross." Cisco joined in as he sealed both cells. Barry nodded that he understood and a few minutes later he found himself in the Cortex standing behind Caitlin who was in a swivel chair and listening to Iris recount the story of how the Pipeline cell had not been able to stop Alchemy from getting into Wally's head and he had started screaming in pain then was determined to get out and get to Dr. Alchemy, Iris had then let him out only to punch his lights out when he tried to get past her.

"This can't go on, my boy is in there and you are now telling me we have no way to protect him?" Joe said pointing at the computer screen that showed a live video feed of the inside of Wally's cell, and there was desperation in his voice.

"Joe we will figure this out." Barry insisted.

"Unless Alchemy sends another goon for us to deal with." Iris observed gloomily.

"I agree with Iris, I don't think the timing of this attack was a coincidence, I think Shade was sent here to distract B.A and the rest of us." H.R spoke up and for once he was calm, by H.R's standards and seemed worried about someone besides himself.

"Then we will deal with it." Barry insisted, firmly.

"How?" Joe demanded. "There are six husks that we have found, after Shade that still leaves three out there and while you are dealing with them Alchemy could make more Meta-Human's for you to deal with, and meanwhile we can't just leave Wally in there getting worse and worse." Joe said as he pointed at the monitor once again.

"He is right, we have to find a way to find Alchemy and take him down once and for all." Cisco agreed quietly, this caused every one to drop into a thoughtful silence, everyone that is except H.R, who had to open his big fat mouth.

"While we are figuring that out I have a question for Dr. Allen here, why did you steal Cisco's power suppressing cuffs?" H.R demanded and this sent Barry into a rage, he knew Caitlin wasn't ready to have her powers revealed to everyone and the fact that he didn't make this a private conversation caused Barry to lose it, at super speed and to the shock of everyone there except Caitlin who knew him too well to not see this coming, He grabbed H.R by the shirt and slammed him against the opposing wall.

"That's none of your business, leave Caitlin alone or so help me going to back to whatever mess you created on your earth will be the least of your problems!" Barry threatened through clenched teeth. Barry then felt Caitlin's hand on his shoulder and he heard her speaking quietly but firmly.

"Barry it's okay, he saved your life tonight, let him go." Caitlin insisted and with anger still in his eyes Barry let go of H.R and stormed to the middle of the room, Caitlin followed well aware that all eyes were on her and that Barry was trying to place himself between her and everyone else in the room, but she wouldn't let him, it was time to face the music.

"I have power." Caitlin announced to all her friends and this drew sharp looks from everyone.

"How long and what kind?" Iris asked and she was clearly very worried about her friend, she had heard her speak of Killer Frost and her fear of becoming her more than once.

"The cold kind." Caitlin answered and her voice dropped when she said it.

Still before everyone there could take this in they heard a noise coming from the com system, it was Wally's voice. "Hey guys, I'm okay for now, can you let me out of here?" He asked and all eyes turned to the cell monitor and saw that Wally was up and what was more he seemed fine.

"I need to run some tests on him." Caitlin state without any emotion in her voice, she was taking refuge in the two things she knew best, science and medicine, they gave her something to do in moments like this when she didn't wish to talk and didn't wish people to look at her with pity. She couldn't stand being pitied, she was a strong woman, but she kept getting pity and not understanding from people. She had gotten pity when her dad died and her mother shut down on her, she didn't like it then, so she forced herself to become the best scientist and doctor she could be.

She had gotten pity when she thought Ronnie died for the first time, and so she through herself into taking care of Barry while he was in a coma, and then studying him when he woke up and became The Flash, she thought that may have been when she had first started to fall in love with him.  
Then when Ronnie came back, only to die again, people had pitied her then, so she had left to work at another lab where no one would know about her, or her past.

She hated pity, she wanted to stand on her own two feet and people who pitied her wouldn't let her do that, so she hid from it every time and took refuge behind anything that would keep her away from people who wanted to give her pity, this time it was helping Wally and it was a welcome distraction.

It was while Caitlin was running test on Wally that another attack came on. "I can hear him calling to me in my head!" Wally screamed out in pain and this drew everyone into the medbay as she jabbed Wally with a very high does of a sedative, but that only seemed to take the edge off, but it did allow Wally to think through the pain and the voice in his head.

"What do we do, we have to stop this now." A near in tears Joe demanded.

"I don't know how." Caitlin said in a panic. "I gave him the highest dosage of the sedative I dare give him, any higher will kill him, and it is just taking the edge off."

Joe then turned to Cisco and H.R. "Are you two any closer to finding Alchemy?" He asked.

"Sorry, but we can't find a trace of him and Barry has been all over the city and can't find him." Cisco explained in a small voice.

"Then how do we stop this?" Joe demanded.

"Use me." The pained but calm voice of Wally stated and this caused everyone to look over at the young man in the hospital bed. "He is calling to me and I don't know how, but somehow I can feel where he wants me to go, so let me go to him, follow me, and then the rest of you take him down." Wally explained his plan calmly.

"No, way!" Joe insisted rather loudly. "We are not putting you in danger."

"Look I am the one he is coming after I am the one he is attacking, so please let me fight back the only way that I can." Wally pleaded and then added. "Barry will be there, I'll be fine." Barry was once again struck by how much faith Wally had in him, even if they did argue from time to time, and what was more Barry knew he was right, he wasn't sure he could take down Alchemy but he had to because it was Wally's only chance.

"He is right Joe, this is the only way." Barry stated, he was now in team leader mode, Caitlin watched as she saw him do what he did in every crisis, step up and take charge of the situation when no one else could. "We need to do this Joe, for Wally."

"Okay." Joe relented and then added forcefully. "If we are going to do this, we are going to do it right."

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That was how about an hour later The Flash found himself following Wally and behind him was Joe West and a SWAT team, armed with both normal guns and ones designed to take down Meta-Humans. Wally was leading them down into a dark tunnel that used to be part of the city's old sewage system or something, it stank and in the distance they could hear chanting of some kind. The tunnel opened up onto a large room with hardly any light in it. Wally singled for the rest of them to wait while he went in alone to confirm Alchemy was there.

The scene that spread out before Wally West was like something out of an old Hammer Horror movie. There were a bunch of people in robes gathered in a circle, all with their heads bowed to the ground and they were chanting the whole time, while a figure in a black robe with a metal mask over his face that distorted his voice, stood in the center of the ring and held aloft a glowing blue stone that seemed to be calling to Wally.

"Wallace West, you have come." The voice said and it sent chills down Wally and everyone else's spines. "Do you want the gifts that were taken from you?" Alchemy asked.

"Ye...s" Wally Managed to blurt out despite the pain he was in. "I feel empty without them and I heard you calling to me."

"Do you truly want them?" Alchemy again asked holding out the stone to Wally.

"What I want is for you to go away, Alchemy!" Wally said in a loud voice and that was The Flash's cue. At that moment he flashed into the room and quickly knocked the stone out of Alchemy's hand and it fell to the floor as Barry hand cuffed him, he then preceded to handcuff all of Alchemy's follower as the SWAT team ran in yelling orders and pointing guns at everyone in the room.

"I am proud of you, son." Joe said as he rushed over and hugged Wally, it was over, Wally was no longer in pain and Alchemy was sitting on the floor as The Flash stepped in front of him.

"Not so tough now, are you." The Flash said with a smug smile on his face. Then the whole room started to shake and Alchemy responded calmly.

"That was a mistake." Alchemy stated and a moment later there was a bright blue flash of lightening and Alchemy along with all of his followers were set free. The flash thought he saw a figure in the blue lightening, but it was moving way too fast, even for him to see clearly.

"Move!" Joe ordered as he motioned for the SWAT team and Wally to get out of the crumbling tunnels. Some members of the SWAT team made it with some of the prisoners, but the others were killed instantly by something The Flash could barely see, he pushed Joe out of it's way and to the ground just in the nick of time to avoid being killed by the thing.

While all this was going on the stone seemed to be calling to Wally more powerfully then ever and The Flash and Joe could only look on in horror as he touched it and was instantly wrapped up in a cocoon of some kind that glowed bright red from the inside. Then in the middle of all this chaos, Alchemy grabbed the stone and made his getaway.

Before The Flash could react to this he felt something large grab him and he felt himself being pushed up against the concrete ceiling, that was when he saw it clearly for the first time. It was large, far larger then any man could be, covered is a bright silver body armor, it had claws for hands and it's "eyes" where nothing more then glowing blue orbs of lightening. It was holding Barry against the ceiling with just it's right hand and Barry could not even vibrate free, because it matched his vibrations, this was a speedster, Barry was sure of it, but as he struggled to draw breath he knew it was unlike any speedster he had faced before.

"Who the hell are you?" Barry demanded.

"I am your god, Savitar god of speed!" That was when The Flash noticed that Savitar's left hand had transformed into a long metal sword of some kind and he was preparing to to thrust it into his throat.

"Shoot it!" The Flash yelled at Joe.

"I can't see it!" Joe protested.

"Just shoot it!" The Flash demanded again and this time Joe opened fire and every bullet hit, but it did nothing to the monster.

"Let's go for a run!" Savitar said as he gripped The Flash by the throat, and all the Flash could do was watch helplessly as the world around him turned into a giant blur that seemed to stand still.

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Back at S.T.A.R labs all Caitlin, Cisco, Iris, and H.R could do was watch the monitors and listen to the garbled nonsense coming in over the coms as this went on.

"My monitors must have been broken, they are saying Barry is at every location in the city at once and that isn't possible!" Cisco said and even he was starting to panic.

"No, it's not, but something moving fast enough could make it look like he is in every part of the city at once." H.R observed grimly, this caused Caitlin's heart to sink.

"He has stopped at the old pear on the waterfront." Cisco reported and then Caitlin noticed her own screen and so did Iris.

"Oh my god, look how fast his vitals are dropping." Iris pointed out and Caitlin could see it and knew what they meant far better then her friend, Barry was losing the fight and he would be dead soon.

"I have a plan." H.R called out as he raised his hand.

"We don't need any help from you!" Cisco barked back but H.R didn't let that stop him, as he had Caitlin and Iris' attention.

"It's a pretty good plan." H.R insisted as he stayed calm. "Right now it is a question of numbers, it's one against one, but what if it was three against one?" H.R asked.

Normally Caitlin wouldn't think of such a thing but Barry was dying and she knew they had to act fast, she ripped the cuffs off and tossed them onto the desk. "Cisco open a portal and take us to the waterfront."

"I am not sure I can do that within the same dimension." Cisco objected, but Caitlin was having none of it.

"Cisco just get us there, now!" Caitlin demanded as she grabbed hold of his arm and a second later Cisco was pulling her through a porthole and they were at the waterfront.

Cisco fell to one knee and yelled "I am going to feel that in the morning." as he held his temples.

Caitlin took a moment to get her barrings and then she saw Barry just hanging in mid air, it looked like something giant that she could not see what holding a beaten up Barry by the throat. "Use your powers!" Cisco yelled and Caitlin didn't have to be told twice.

Caitlin let lose with all the freezing powers she could muster at that moment and she blasted where she assumed the thing's body to be. Caitlin could feel her eyes turning silver, her lips turning blue, her skin growing paler, and her hair turning white, but she didn't care, she just had to save Barry, so she continued to pour on the freezing power at great risk to losing herself to Killer Frost. An instant later a large monstrous form appeared covered in ice, a second later a loud yell was let out and the thing broke free of the ice and seemed to dash off somewhere, dropping Barry to the ground.

Caitlin rushed over to Barry and felt for a pulse. "Barry, can you hear me?" She pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah." Barry chocked out. "Thanks to you, we need to check on Cisco." He then flashed over to Cisco who was holding his head in pain. So he didn't notice Caitlin's eyes turn silver for just an instant and there was no way he could hear the voice in her head that Caitlin was too tired to fight at the moment. The voice seemed to say. _"See, only I can protect Barry. If you care about him at all you will let me out."_ At the moment Caitlin was doing her best to fight off the voice but somewhere deep down inside herself she knew it was a losing fight, and that Killer Frost was there to stay and there was nothing she could do about it.

 **Okay sorry about this chapter being nothing but a repeat of the show and that it took so long to come out. But there are two things that are hard for me to write, one is stuff we have seen on the show that needs to be written down for the story to make sense, so in this case I decided to confine it all to one awful garbage pit of a chapter that can be easily skipped so you don't have to read it. The next chapter will be my own version of Killer Frost that will differ from the one in the show and the events will too. The second thing I find hard to write is a total rewrite of a chapter I already wrote but lost before I could post it, that was also true of this chapter, I had it all typed out along with the rest of the Killer Frost chapters but while I was backing them up, my computer died so I had to buy a new one and completely rewrite them, including this one. So writing this thing went very slowly.**

 **There is a third reason this is late that I am not too proud of and that is I got caught up reading Nadie2's SG-1 fan fiction Broca Baby, as it is the best written and researched piece of StarGate SG-1 fan fiction I have ever read, and it is well worth checking out. I am not proud that it got in the way of my writing, but I am not ashamed to say I got hooked on said story and am still working my way through it, and I hope you understand.**

 **Oh and to those who have asked, Yes I will be doing the Heroes Vs. Aliens cross over in my story, but it is a little ways down the line because of some events that Have to do with Adder and what I am going to do with Killer Frost, parts of it will differ from the show, and it will be told from Barry and Caitlin's POV.**

 **I am sorry this week has turned out to be suck a garbage week for my stories, but if you hang in there you are the best and I think you will be rewarded on Monday with something different. Sorry but the past two chapters had to be done.**

 **Well thanks for putting up with my story going nowhere, and hope you are still reading when the next chapter comes out.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **Quick little note here, I know I normally only use Bold for writer's notes, but in this and following chapters it will be used to indicated Caitlin's inner thoughts and Italics will be used to indicate Killer Frosts talking in Caitlin's head. Thanks to Nida2, I had half of this idea in my older chapters, but she gave me the rest of it in her story Broca Baby. So thanks a lot and hope you don't mind my using it, but it makes things easier here. Oh and if any of the lines differ from the show a little please try to remember I am doing this from memory and maybe just chalk it up to this being an AU piece of fan fiction. :)**

Once Barry had Flashed Caitlin and Cisco back to S.T.A.R Labs, Caitlin spend some time running tests and assuring Cisco that just because she had called what his brain went through a mini stroke all he needed was some Aspirin and he would be fine.

"Well next time just lead with that." Cisco whined, but Caitlin didn't have time to listen to the complaint as she was already having to make her way over to another part of the medbay where the cocoon that Wally was trapped in was being kept on a bed, she knew everyone expected her to fix that problem right away too. Caitlin was so tired and emotionally on edge that she didn't even notice that she had failed to put the power suppressing cuffs back on her wrists when she had returned to S.T.A.R Labs, or the fact that for another second her eyes glowed silver.

" _Ungrateful pig, does he or anyone else around here appreciate just how hard you work to keep them all alive despite their own stupid and reckless behavior?"_

" **No, they don't."**

" _Of course they don't, because you just let them walk all over you. To them you will never be anything more then Caitlin, the little weak girl in the corner who they all protect and pity, and they can always count on, but they will never respect or appreciate you. Well maybe Barry does, you do miss him, in our bed, but he will not even come near there because of his morals, where have those ever gotten him, or you?"_

" **It's MY bed, and I don't have time to deal with this right now, I have to think about Wally."**

" _Fine, go save the kid, I will just be here waiting to help when you finally get sick of being a doormat that gets trampled on by everyone who comes through the doors of this place."_

When Caitlin got to the other side of the medbay she found everyone crowded around something that was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was about six feet in size and laying sideways and glowed a mixture of bright red and orange from the inside, like there was some kind of power in it, something she was sure she couldn't hope to understand. Standing nearest the table was a distraught looking Joe, who's eyes seemed to be pleading with her to do something to fix this. She couldn't work like this, under Joe's gaze and with all these people hanging around.

"I need everyone to clear out of here so I have some room to work." Caitlin announced with a little more force then was needed. It was clear that Joe didn't want to leave his son's side but as a cop he had seen many people in the hospital and he knew logically that doctors needed room to work. So after swallowing hard he helped her clear out the room, leaving Caitlin alone to do her job.

It took Caitlin a few hours, but after finding the correct way to hook up monitoring equipment to the cocoon that seemed to be giving readings on Wally's vital signs, trying and succeeding in running some tests on the cocoon, and then changing her mode of thinking so she was treating Wally more like an insect than a human, she reached some conclusions, and she knew they were not ones Joe would want to hear. Still she had to tell him, so with a tired and reluctant sigh she called him back into the medbay and he was followed by everyone else.

"As far as I can tell from these readings Wally is alive in there and healthy." Caitlin announced to the over crowded medbay.

"Oh, thank God." Joe said letting out a breath, then a second later he asked. "So what do you think this thing is doing to him?"

Now it was time for the bad news, but Caitlin to her credit sucked it up and delivered it with only a slight tremor in her voice. "I have no way of knowing that." Caitlin admitted.

"So really you can't be sure if he is okay in there or not." Joe stated and he seemed to be becoming a little angry.

"No, but as I said every reading I have is healthy, for all we know this is part of process that leaves the subject inside unharmed when it is finished." Caitlin stated, falling back on her training as a doctor and remaining calm even while the next of kin was losing their mind.

"But the bottom line is, you don't know for sure, do you?" Joe pressed.

"No, I don't." Caitlin admitted at last and there was a slight hint of depression in her voice as she admitted this.

"So, why don't you just cut him out of there?" Joe demanded.

"Look." Caitlin began to explain and she was getting sick and tired of people asking for her help and then not trusting her when they got it. "When a caterpillar wraps it's self in a cocoon it's body literally breaks it's self down and rebuilds it's self as a butterfly, if that is what is happening to Wally in there, cutting the cocoon open before he is ready, will kill him."

"So you just called us in here to admit you have no idea what is happening to Wally, and that there is no way to help him." Joe vented.

"Look, Joe it will be okay." Barry said in a soothing tone as he walked up beside Joe, but Joe was having none of it.

"I don't have the education all of you do, the science of what we do here goes over my head most of the time, but what I do have is my gut instincts from years of being a cop, and every time I ignore those instincts because one of you say it will be okay, something bad happens. Now I feel like a fool because I believed you again and now my son is trapped in that thing and there isn't a damn thing any of you can do about it. Well I am listening to my instincts and what they are telling me now is that the only hope for Wally is questioning that follower of Alchemy we have down at the station, so that is what I am going to do!" Joe ranted and then stormed out of the medbay in a huff.

" _See, what did I tell you. All that hard work, a night without rest and what do you get for it, nothing."_

" **Shut up, Joe is just stressed because it's Wally, it wasn't personal."**

" _Oh yeah, well then answer me this, when was the last time he or anyone else thanked you for doing all the hard work you do…., that's what I thought. See the looks of pity you are getting from both Barry and Iris. Is this really how you want Barry to see you, weak and needing help all the time, is that really what you think he is looking for in a wife?"_

" **Get out of my head!"**

" _Fine, I'll help you get rid of me, after all I only want what is best for you, Caitlin Snow. You know there is only one person who can help you with that and our only lead on him is locked up where you can't get to him, but I can."_

" **Fine, we will do it your way, anything to get you out of my head!"**

"Hey, can you two keep any eye on Wally while I go to the restroom?" Caitlin asked looking at both Barry and Iris who were standing vigil over the cocoon, they both nodded and Iris had a tear in her eye. "Great, just let me know if his vital signs change." Caitlin said and then she made her way out of the medbay, but she didn't head towards the women's restroom, instead she headed towards the exit of S.T.A.R Labs, and into the streets.

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Caitlin used the lie of being a family doctor there because of a medical emergency to get past the desk Sargent at the precinct and learn that Joe was in an interrogation room, questioning the one member of Alchemy's followers the SWAT team had managed to hold on to the night before. Caitlin could hear the sounds of a man screaming and Joe's raised voice through the brown wooden door of the interrogation room as she got closer. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she knew needed to be done, she then knocked on the door. At first there was no answer, so she knocked again, this time harder and her answer was Joe's voice yelling "What?!" from the other side of the door.

"It's me, Caitlin." She answered trying her best to sound like her normal self. The door then opened a crack and she could see Joe's face. "Wally is awake and out of the cocoon." She lied and she hated to admit it but with Killer Frost in her head she was a much better liar, because Joe didn't even seem to question what she said.

"Is he okay?" Joe asked with a mixture of relief and concern.

"Yeah, he is fine and asking for you." Caitlin answers and she let a smile pass over her face to help sell the lie.

"Oh, thank God, I'll go see him now." Joe said and he dashed out the door without noticing that he had left Caitlin behind, or that she had stuck her foot out and wedged it between the door and the jam so it didn't close all the way, she then stepped into the interrogation room, careful to hug the walls so the security camera couldn't see her.

" _Great job, now it is time for me to take over and have some fun."_

Caitlin then let go and felt herself for the first time fully letting her powers take hold, and it felt good. As white mist that was almost impossible to see through flowed off her cold body as it interacted with the warmth of the air around her and her voice took on an echoey quality, that hid who she really was. Killer Frost was finally free and she planned to make the most of her time, but first on to business, it was time to prove to Caitlin that she could give her anything she wanted, so when the time came Caitlin wouldn't want to let her go.

Killer Frost's first move was to freeze the security camera so it couldn't get a good look at her. She then walked over to the follower of Alchemy who was still handcuffed to his chair on the other side of the desk.

"Your friend, Alchemy. He can give people powers, can he take them away and where do I find him?" Killer Frost demanded.

"I sense great fear in you, you fear your true greatness." The man on the other side of the table taunted. "I fear only he who my master fears, the Lord Savitar."

"Maybe it is time you started fearing me!" Killer Frost responded and she reached out and with one touch froze the man's broken nose. This caused him to scream out in pain and a second later Killer Frost could hear two sets of feet heading in the direction of the room. She knew she had to hide quickly and find another way to get what Caitlin wanted, So she she let out a high pitched screech and from her mouth there came a freezing mist that froze all the windows shut and also filled the room with so much mist that only she could see anything in it. That was when two officers burst into the room, she then quickly and quietly made her way out of the room, slipping past the two officers unnoticed in the mist, then then slammed the door shut and froze it closed behind her.

Killer Frost was making her way down the hall and towards the nearest fire exit when she heard a confused man with a British accent call out to her. "Excuse me, can I help you?" the voice asked. Killer Frost was going to simply freeze the man to death but then she notice he had a laptop case slung over his shoulder.

"You, do exactly what I say of I will freeze you and everyone else in this building to death!" Killer Frost ordered. The only reply she was a nervous gulp from the man and then she grabbed him by the sleeve on his coat and forced him out of the nearest fire exit, being careful to freeze every security camera she came across as she left with her hostage.

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It took Killer Frost longer then she thought it would to find a hideout and get to it holding onto a hostage while using back alleys so she would not be seen, but finally they got there and she shoved the man into the hideout that would make do for now. It was dark, and all the machines were turned off, so no one would get in her way, good.

"A frozen food warehouse, that's a bit obvious, don't you think?" The hostage quipped.

"What's your name?" Killer Frost demanded as she turned to face the man with a deadly gaze.

"Julian." The man answered and Killer Frost could tell he was trying his best not to show fear. "What do you even need me for?" He then demanded.

"I can't touch a computer without destroying it, and you can." She answered curtly.

"Wait I minute." Julian said as suddenly a light bulb went off in his head. "I know you, Yeah I remember seeing your picture in Allen's wallet when he paid for our drinks the other night. You're his wife, the doctor, Your name is Caitlin Allen!"

"My name is Killer Frost!" She said angrily and her eyes lit up at this challenge.

"Are you going to kill me?" Julian asked.

"No, I need you to set up a search for people in this city who have done a web search for a certain word or phrase in the past few weeks, that word is Alchemy." She said and flung open the laptop case that Julian had over his shoulder, leaving him to remove the laptop and place it on a piece of machinery and open it.

"What if I don't." Julian asked defiantly.

"Then you will get this!" Killer Frost answered and she reached out and touched Julian's left wrist just long enough to give him a minor case of frostbite. Julian screamed out in pain and when Killer Frost let go he pulled a way and then started typing on the laptop's keyboard, this seemed to end all thoughts of rebellion on his part, for the moment.

"Alchemy is a pretty common word and phrase, you are going to get hundreds if not thousands of hits." Julian pointed out, and his voice still had the marks of a man who had recently been in pain, even if his wrist was already healing.

"Then look for people who have searched for it along with another word or phrase." Killer Frost added and for the first time since she had taken over, she could feel Caitlin fighting her, but Killer Frost was winning the fight, for the moment.

"What word or phrase?" Julian asked.

"Savitar." Killer Frost answered and then she sat down on the concrete floor and waited for the results.

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The Flash's heart was breaking as he race towards the warehouse, Caitlin was out there being controlled by Killer Frost and the police were after her, his only hope was to get to her before the police did, and then what? Take her down? No, he could talk her down, he had to believe that. The only bright spot was that H.R had come up with the idea of looking for cold patterns so his team had found her before the police did and Cisco had cut off the security camera feeds from the frozen foods warehouse so only people at S.T.A.R Labs could see what was going on inside. He just had to hope Julian wouldn't remember the short talk they had over drinks the night before when he had noticed Caitlin's picture in his wallet and asked about her, if he did then he would know Killer Frost and Caitlin were the same person and Barry knew he wouldn't cut her any slack, Caitlin would spend the rest of her life in jail, and that was if she was lucky, if she wasn't the cops would be forced to shoot her before she hurt Julian or anyone else.

The worst part about the whole situation was that Barry knew it was all his fault, If he had not created Flashpoint, if he had protected her from Zoom, there were so many things he could have done to avoid this, but now he was in a situation where there was a real chance he would have to fight Caitlin, and the question was, could he do it? Not to protect his own life he was sure, but to protect the lives of others from Killer Frost, could he bring himself to fight her in a battle he knew could be to the death. He was pretty sure even then he couldn't do it. So that left him with no other option then to talk her down before the police found her or she killed someone and that was a tall order. The Flash had never felt so conflicted over anything in his life, The women he was engaged to and had married in another life was now his mortal enemy and he didn't see how he was going to put things right, but somehow he would make things right, even if it killed him, and there was a good chance it would.

 **Okay that is all for today, but more is coming tomorrow and the story will be different from what we saw on TV, I promise it is just taking me longer then I remembered to get past the parts covered in the TV parts.**

 **Well thanks for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing.**

 **You guys are the best.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Killer Frost felt like she had been waiting for hours, she really didn't like waiting, she wanted to be out in the world having fun, in other words living up to her name, but she couldn't do that as long as Caitlin was fighting her for control of her body, so she needed to make Caitlin give in. Finally Julian called her over to the laptop.

"I found two home address where someone who was in the house searched for both the terms Alchemy and Savitar." Julian reported pointing at the computer screen, and then he pressed his luck by asking a question. "What are you going to do to these people when you find them, are you going to kill them?" This caused Killer Frost's lips to turn upwards into a smile, but only for a second as she quickly turned away from Julian and began walking away.

" _What are you doing, we are so close?!"_

Suddenly Caitlin seemed to have been shocked back in to control and looking down at the floor she asked herself in a small voice filled with fear and horror "What am I doing?" She may have been able to keep control but then she heard Julian typing on the Laptop's keyboard and whirled around and quickly saw that Julian had just sent an email with the warehouse's address to someone named Detective Paterson.

" _See what happens when you show weakness, people take advantage of you. I'll take over from here!"_

Killer Frost then shot out a blast of cold air from her hands that froze the computer and shattered it into a million pieces, she then turned her deadly gaze on a very frightened Julian. "What part of do what I say or I will freeze you to death didn't you understand?" Killer Frost demanded and she was about to make good on her threat when suddenly a familiar whoosh entered the room and a second latter The Flash was standing between her and Julian.

" _Well now I have a chance to show him how much more fun I can be then that cold fish Caitlin."_

" **No, you don't that's Barry over there, I am taking control!"**

"Flash you don't understand, I have to find Alchemy!" Caitlin shouted and her voice was desperate and pleading.

"Knock her out!" Julian shouted from behind The Flash and he sounded a little too eager for Barry's taste and he was trending his last bare nerve.

"I don't want to hurt anyone!" Caitlin insisted with tears in her eyes.

"She is willing to hurt people knock her out!" Julian yelled and this caused Barry to lash out in a way he wished he had done weeks before, he slammed the back of his fist into Julian's jaw, knocking him out instantly. He then watched as it seemed for a moment Killer Frost won the battle for Caitlin's mind and she took off the sweater she was wearing and unbuttoned a button on Caitlin's shirt so she was showing way more of her chest then Caitlin ever would.

"There Flash, see how much more fun a walk on the wild side can be?" Killer Frost said in a quiet seductive tone as she slowly made her way over to The Flash and pressed her body against his, for a moment the Flash was frozen in place and it had nothing to do with Killer Frost's powers.

"I did that to protect Caitlin." Barry stated firmly while mustering all of his self control.

"But I am so much more fun, stop worrying about the rest of the world and just do what you want for a change" Killer Frost whispered in The Flash's ear.

"What I want is you out of Caitlin's body!"

This seemed to anger Killer Frost but it was a quiet anger and not the type The Flash was expecting at all. "Fine, but word of warning, I don't take rejection well." Then Caitlin pulled back and she seemed to be speaking for herself again. "That is why I have to find Alchemy, so he can take my powers away."

"I don't think it works that way." Barry stated and he tried to hug Caitlin, but she pulled away, she didn't want his pity.

"You don't know that it doesn't." Caitlin insisted.

"Come with me and I'll fix this." Barry pleaded.

"You mean like you fixed me or Cisco?" Caitlin demanded with anger in her voice and her voice suddenly became a mix of Caitlin's and Killer Frost's, she then turned to the security camera that she was sure everyone from S.T.A.R Labs was watching them on as if she was some sort of soap opera put on for their amusement, she would show them, by hurting them, plus it would drive a wedge between Barry and his friends, leaving him nowhere else to turn to for help and this was just fine with her. "He didn't tell you did he Cisco?! He didn't tell you that he screwed you worst of all, before Flashpoint I didn't have these powers and Dante was alive and happy." She then turned her anger directly on The Flash. "For someone who expects unquestioning trust you sure have no problem with screwing your friends over whenever it suits you."

A look of pure pain passed over The Flash's face as he took this all in and realized that Cisco now knew, Killer Frost and maybe even Caitlin had meant to hurt him in a way only they could and they had hit the bully's eye. Suddenly The Flash was over come by all the feelings of guilt he had recently managed to put aside, and what was more sorrow for what he had put everyone around him through and for a moment the thought passed through his mind that everyone, including Caitlin would have been better off if they had never met if or if he had never been born. What good had he really done in his life that outweighed the bad any way? He couldn't answer that question and he didn't feel like he had the right to speak, that was when a voice rang out, echoing against the walls of the warehouse. "Albert is down, open fire!" Detective Paterson ordered the SWAT team that was with him. The Flash and Killer Frost had been so wrapped up in themselves they had not even noticed the team enter the building.

The warehouse exploded with the sound of multiple guns being fired at once. Killer Frost was turning to face the source of the sound and unleash a deadly blast of cold air from her hands and mouth when The Flash sprang in to action, at super speed he quickly pushed her out of the way of the incoming bullets and into a maze of cardboard boxes at the far end of the warehouse. The Flash watched as the SWAT team spread out and began searching the warehouse, he was waiting for an opening so he could flash himself and Caitlin out of the warehouse and back to S.T.A.R Labs. A second later he felt the greatest pain he had ever felt before in his life, just above his ankle. The pain was a sharp piercing on and on top of that it was ice cold, he looked back to see that Killer Frost had stabbed him just above the ankle with a lard icicle she had formed, but when she spoke it was with Caitlin's voice.

"I just severed your tricept sarei( **writer's note if anyone knows what Caitlin said here and how it was spelled could you please let me know in the reviews or a PM, I have listened to the line several times and I can't make out what she is saying well enough to look it up in the dictionary or Gray's Anatomy, so I had to take my best guess, sorry about that)** Even with your powers it will take you at least four hours to heal." She reported coldly as she broke off the end of the icicle. The fact that it was Caitlin saying this and not Killer Frost was even more painful then the wound it's self. "Don't try and follow me!" Caitlin then warned and she then made her way quickly past two members of the SWAT team and out of an exit.

 _"You had your shot little girl, now it is time to prove to the Flash that I love him and there are ways I can help him that no one else can."_

 **"This was all about getting you out of my head!"**

 _"Not any more, The Flash has just lost his friends and the next time he finds me I will have dealt with the biggest problem in his life, he will have no one to turn to but me. Now quickly, down this ally."_

The Flash tried to follow her but when he put weight on his left leg it just gave out from under him and he fell to the ground. It took fifteen minutes for him to heal just enough so he could limp after Caitlin, and by then she was long gone and all he could do was head back to S.T.A.R Labs and face the music.

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S.T.A.R Labs was unnervingly quiet as Barry got out of his Flash suit and into his normal clothes and he didn't even ask where Cisco was as he hobbled over to one of the beds in the med bay. He didn't say a word as Iris did a decent enough job bandaging up his left leg. Iris did a good enough job on his leg, but not as good as Caitlin would have done if she had been there.

"Does it hurt?" Iris asked as she finished wrapping the bandage around Barry's leg.

"Not as much as I deserve." Barry answered and there was no energy or hope to be found in his voice. Before Iris could respond Barry was forcing himself out of the bed and ignoring the intense pain he was in, he was sort of hopping into the Cortex, that was when he ran into Cisco who looked like he was just holding back a tear, but there was something else in his eyes, anger. Before anyone could do anything Cisco clocked Barry right on the jaw as hard as he could this spend Barry tumbling to the hard floor, which he hit with a loud thud.

"You son of a Bitch!" Cisco yelled.

"Cisco!" Iris shouted back in shock and she bent down to help Barry up.

"He murdered my brother!" Cisco yelled. "He put Wally in that thing, and now Caitlin is out there somewhere with no help."

"Cisco we are a team." Iris instead and she steadied Barry on his feet.

"We aren't a team." Cisco said with a shake of his head. "Don't you get it, we just exist to get him what he wants, but he would never lift a finger to help any of us."

"Cisco..." Barry tried to explain as he gritted his teeth with the pain of standing up, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

"You don't get to call me that!" Cisco responded and his face had turned bright red. "You are not my friend and you never were. I'm done being used by you and I am done with your little "team", you murdered Dante, and I will make sure you pay for that!" Cisco yelled and then he stormed out of the Cortex with H.R in hot pursuit.

Barry's eyes started to well up with tears as he fell to the floor in a state of complete depression. Iris knelt down to try and help him. "He is wrong you know that, right?" She asked quietly.

"No, he isn't." Barry muttered. "He is right and I have no idea why any of you are sticking around at this point, you should all be following him and Caitlin."

"No, because you are the Flash and right now more then ever, we need the Flash." Iris insisted but Barry was having none of it as he forced himself to his feet, refusing Iris' help.

"I have hurt everyone enough, The Flash is done. I'm done hurting people." Barry said and then added more forcefully as he made his way to the door. "Don't try to contact me, you will only get yourselves hurt."

"Barry." Joe added sadly as he tried to block him from leaving, but Barry wouldn't even listed to Joe, instead he pushed past the insane amount of pain and flashed as fast as he could go out of the cortex and out of S.T.A.R Labs. This was the last time he would be in that building and the last time he would use his speed he vowed to himself, so he could handle a little pain.

H.R then entered the lab looking a little depressed himself. "Well Cisco is gone and he took his Vibe gear with him." He reported and there wasn't much emotion in his voice either.

"Okay, so we no longer have any Meta-Human members of our team left, does anyone here have any idea just what in the hell we are supposed to do now." Joe asked and it was clear he was talking about the big picture and not just Wally. Iris got a determined look on her face and made her way over to Cisco's computer station and took a look at it.

"We do exactly what we would do if they were here, we protect this city." She stated firmly as she took control of the situation. She then brought up two addresses on the big monitor that everyone could see. "It looks like Cisco figured out what Killer Frost forced Albert to do, he found the addresses of two of Alchemy's followers, and I am betting she intends to hurt or kill one of them tonight." She stated calmly.

"Okay." Joe said as he took in the situation. "There are two addresses so we have to cover them both and since non of us are Meta-Humans that means we have to use the boots from CCPD, they should take Killer Frost down."

"Right, you cover this one, dad." Iris said pointing at one of the addresses. "And I will cover the other."

"What the hell do you think you are doing, young lady, you are not trained and I already have one kid on life support because of this whole mess, I am not risking you too."

"Both those addresses need to be covered and to be frank I trust H.R more with running the coms and keeping an eye on Wally then I do with covering one of those location, so I am going!" Iris stated and she didn't leave much room for argument. All Joe did was grunt in response, but he didn't try to stop her, he knew there was no point when she had set on mind on doing something.

"Have fun you two!" H.R called out as he sat down at the computer desk as the father and daughter team left.

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Barry Allen didn't feel any emotions of any kind, he was long past that point. He simply searched the apartment that had once been his and Caitlin's shared home in another life. Finally he found what he was looking for, an unmarked white bottle with what looked like twenty little red pills, the pills Caitlin had told him about what felt like a lifetime ago.

"Maybe taking all of these at once will finally get the speedforce out of my system." Barry thought to himself as he grabbed the bottle and made his way into the kitchen. He poured himself a tall glass of water from the sink, removed the lid from the bottle of pills, and prepared to take them.

"Goodbye Flash, hello Barry Allen." He thought to himself.  
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Cisco had beaten Iris to the house she was supposed to be covering and surprised the husband and father of the household who had come down in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. This was Alchemy's follower, Cisco could sense it. He was in his whole Vibe getup and just to add to the effect he shattered the glass the man was holding, clearly scaring him. "Unless you want your body to end up like that glass, you will answer my questions." The man silently nodded that he understood. "Good, I need to find your master, I need to find Dr. Alchemy." Cisco stated as he shoved the man against the hard wooden wall of the kitchen.

"Alchemy is just an acolyte, like me. We both serve the Lord Savitar, he is our true master and the one who will judge all when he comes here." The man stated sounding a little less nervous.

"He is a speedster, even better. That means he can time travel and fix something for me. Now, tell me how to contact him." Cisco demanded.

"You can't call him, he will call you, if your are worthy." The acolyte stated. "But you will not be called, because you are the one known as Vibe and you are on the side of the Flash, so you have already been judged."

"I am not on the side of the Flash any more and if Savitar is looking to judge The Flash I want to help." Cisco stated coldly.

"If you are not on the side of The Flash, then you are not Vibe, and my master may have a use for you, and he always rewards those who are of use to him, but what should we call you now?" The acolyte asked.

"You can just call me Reverb." Cisco stated and his voice was filled with pure hatred "And anything that will hurt The Flash I am okay with because he took everything from me and it is time for him to pay, and for me to get back everything that was taken from me."

 **Okay let me know what you think of this chapter and the changes I have made to this story.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading it, the next chapter will be coming soon.**

 **Oh and when I had this episode covered by two giant chapters and then my back up lap top stopped working, this is where the cliffhanger was, if you are interested. That is why it is so intense and angsty, because I figured after a chapter as long as it was not split up I needed something big to end on.**

 **As always thanks for reading and following and any feedback you give.**

 **You guys are the best.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Barry Allen stood in his kitchen just looking at the handful of red pills in his left hand that he had only just pulled away from his mouth, he had been about to do it seconds ago, but then he had pulled back at the last moment and hadn't put the pills in his mouth. Why hadn't he? His life had been a nightmare since he became The Flash, so why couldn't he bring himself to be rid of these powers once and for all? His life would be so much easier if he could just go back to being Barry Allen CSI, the shining star of the CCPD's crime lab. It wasn't like he wouldn't still be helping people or doing something he loved, he would still be helping put killers behind bars before they could kill again. There that was it, that was one of the things that was bugging him. How many times as The Flash had he shown up at the scene of a crime before a killer could kill his or her first victim so it was just the scene of a crime the police had to deal with and not a dead body, dozens, hundreds? He had never really kept track. Maybe that was the other problem, he wasn't the sort of person who kept track, he thought of it as his duty to the community, so he had never stopped to think about all the lives he had saved from non Meta-Human related crimes, maybe he should do that before taking the pills. How many children had he spared the type pain he had been forced to live through when his mother was murdered? Again he had no idea but he was sure he had been a force for good in Central City even when things were at their darkest. They had given him the key to the city for goodness sake, that meant everyone in the city was counting on him to help protect them, now was he just going to throw it all back in their faces? No, he couldn't do that, that wasn't the sort of man he was, he wouldn't lose hope or give up, he would keep fighting even if he made mistakes. He quickly returned the pills to the bottle but gulped down the glass of water in his right hand, he needed it after the few tense minutes he had just been through.

A few minutes latter as Barry was sitting on the couch trying to figure out if he should go back to S.T.A.R Labs again that night or sleep off his leg wound on the couch, which did seem awfully comfortable at that moment, then he remembered Caitlin, the one person he had forgotten about while he was here falling apart and he was about to call a cab to take him to S.T.A.R Labs since his leg still hurt when he tried running on it, when his phone rang. Barry looked as the caller I.D and saw that it was from S.T.A.R labs. He answered the phone and he was shocked to hear H.R's voice on the other end of the line.

"B.A thank god I finally figured out how these "phones" on your earth work, Iris needs you." H.R state and that was enough to have Barry on his feet as H.R rambled off an address and gave him the details of what Iris was doing there. "Oh, and there is just one more thing." H.R said and he from the sound of his voice Barry could tell the news he was about to get was not good. "The Meta-Human who showed up there wasn't Killer Frost, in was Francisco and he seems to be calling himself Reverb now." Barry hung up the phone without comment, but his heart did sink a little, so it seemed that not only did Cisco hate him now, but he had also gone into full blow villain mode and Barry would have to fight him, still Iris was in danger so he couldn't allow himself the luxury of self pity any more than he could pain, so he pushed past both and flashed to S.T.A.R Labs and then to the address H.R had given him.

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When The Flash got to the scene he took a minute to take in in the situation and try to come up with a plan, just like The Green Arrow had taught him to, many years before. The neighborhood looked like any other just after midnight, cars were parked on the streets and in driveways, lights were out in all the homes, yard were neat and tidy, the only thing that was out of place was that Cisco was standing in the middle of the street in full Vibe gear, looking very angry and Iris was taking cover behind a large tree in one of the front yards, and she was holding a boot gun in her hands.

"For the last time Cisco, I don't want to hurt you. So knock it off!" Iris yelled from behind the tree.

"Cisco is gone, I am Reverb!" Cisco yelled and then he let lose a powerful vibe from both of his hands aimed right at the tree Iris was taking cover behind. The Flash sprung into action, he flashed across the street and beat the vibe to the tree by just a matter of seconds, he grabbed Iris and flashed out of the way just as the whole tree shattered into a million pieces sending splinters of wood in every direction and leaving nothing but a mangled stump behind. The Flash only had enough time to place Iris in cover behind a near by parked car before his leg gave out on him due to the pain and he fell to his knees, wincing in pain but refusing to cry out because Oliver had taught him well and he knew that giving away the position he had left Iris at and letting Reverb know he was already in pain would be a tactical mistake of the first order.

"So the Flash finally shows himself, only to go into hiding?!" Reverb taunted. "We have a score to settle, so come out and face me or I will start destroying homes with all the people in them!"

"Barry, don't, you are in no condition to face him" Iris whispered in his ear, but The Flash held up his hand indicating that he needed her to be quiet, and she complied. The Flash knew he had no choice but to face Reverb, but he also didn't want to give away Iris' position so once again ignoring the pain he pushed himself up onto his feet and he made a carefully executed series of quick Flashes that Reverb barely notice so that he was then on the other end of the street, behind Reverb when he finished, so that he was distracting him from Iris. He then put on his best game face, the one where he smiled because he knew the fight would be short, to add to the distraction, he only hoped that Iris would take the hint and get out of there while he was battling Reverb, a battle he knew that in his present condition he could very well lose.

"Man Cisco, you sure are stupid and I am sorry I did this to you, but I can't let you hurt people and calling me out for a fight, well you are going to be sorry you did that." The Flash said confidently, using that to mask his pain and to let Reverb's anger boil over, he knew people who attack in anger were more likely to make mistakes because anger clouds your judgment as much as grief or self pity do, and he needed Reverb to make a mistake if he was going to win this fight.

"My Name is Reverb!" Reverb bellowed and he let lose with another vibe attack that The Flash just barely dodged. "If I hand you over to Alchemy The Lord Savitar has said he will put the timeline right, and Dante will be back."

Barry felt sorrow and guilt building up in his chest, but he refused to let it show on his face. He knew that if he really wanted to help Cisco he needed to stop him from harming anyone, and to do that he would have to win the fight, so he kept his game face on and continued to taunt him. "You really think you can trust the word of people named Dr. Alchemy and the Lord Savitar?, man Cisco I don't know what level of dumb that is but you may have set a new world record for the dumbest choice ever made."

Reverb let lose with another blast, this time from both hands. The Flash responded by using his speed to dodge the blast and zip right up to Reverb's face and punch him, this sent Reverb falling to the ground, but he was not out of the fight. Reverb then let lose with another blast, and this one Barry couldn't dodge because once again his leg had given out and so the blast hit him square in the chest and sent him flying down the street only to be stopped when he slammed painfully in to the front of a parked car. Barry tried to get up but he was in a lot of pain, not only could he now not put any weight on his left leg, but he was also pretty sure he had cracked a couple of ribs. A second later he looked up to see Reverb towering over him, with an evil grin on his face.

"Well looks like it is time to say goodbye Flash, I beat you, again." Reverb taunted as he raised both hands to attack, and Barry prepared himself for the end. Then something happened that neither one of them expected, with a scream Reverb fell to the ground in front of Barry and it seemed like all his powers had been sapped. It took Barry a moment to figure out what had happened, but then he noticed the boot around Reverb's neck, it had done it's job and taken away Cisco's powers. Before Barry could take all this in Iris was there holding her recently fired bootgun and helping Barry to his feet.

"Thanks." Barry said as he leaned some of his weight against her. "But the plan was for me to distract him while you got out of here."

"That was your plan, and it sucked." Iris stated. "So I went with my plan which was to put the boot on him while you were distracting him."

"Oh, that is a better plan, thanks." Barry said with a small smile. Iris was getting better at this sort of thing, that was for sure.

"No, problem. Now let's get you and Cisco back to S.T.A.R Labs." Iris said as she and Barry both looked down at Cisco. That was when he spoke.

"Barry, Help me!" He pleaded.

"I can't turn back time, and I can't let Savitar do it either." Barry explained with a tear in his eye.

"No, that is not what I am talking about." Cisco insisted. "Something is happening to me, and I think it is the same thing that happened to Caitlin."

"What is it, what are you talking about?" Barry asked and suddenly there was an urgent tone to his voice, Cisco had said the magic words that got his attention. Meanwhile Iris looked on a little worried, she hoped this wasn't just Reverb playing some sort of mind game with Barry and using the women he loved to throw him off of his game, if that did happen who knew what kind of trap Barry could end up walking into.

"I don't know exactly what it is." Cisco tried to explain. "But it is like there is this small voice in my head battling for control of my body and when I got angry that gave it a chance to take over and it forced me to watch as I said and did things to people that hurt them, I don't know how but it's like somehow my evil twin from Earth 2 is still alive in my head somewhere."

"So you and Caitlin both get taken over by some form of the Earth 2 versions of yourselves that are also dead?" Iris asked skeptically but hoping Cisco was telling the truth. She was now in reporter mode, trying to get as many facts as she could and put the pieces together and then deciding if the final story made sense or not.

"Yeah, this is way creepier then anything in The Shinning." Cisco replied as he stood up and took Barry's weight off of Iris.

"How do know, you never finished that movie?" Barry asked clearly trying to laugh off the extreme amount of pain he was in.

"That's what I get for having you as a room mate." Cisco replied. "Yeah I never made it past the part with the twins, but unless that movie stars me and has a super villain mass murder taking over my body, this is way creepier."

"I just don't get how this happened at all, and why did it happen to both of you tonight." Iris said as she took a few steps back so she could face the two, and now she was pretty sure this was Cisco and his story was true, only Cisco would interact with Barry like this, not Reverb.

"I think Killer Frost somehow knew what would set me off, and she did it on purpose to buy time." Cisco replied and he noted that suddenly Barry had gone quiet.

"You mean Caitlin set this all up?" Iris asked shocked.

"Didn't you just hear me?" Cisco asked forcefully. "This is like crazy alien mind control stuff and once it has you then you have to fight to break free, and it's a fight I lost." Cisco said as a look of shame passed over his face, but then he quickly added. "I don't think Caitlin has much say in this, in my case at least the personality seemed to feed off of the negative emotions I was going through at the moment and used that to take over, as someone who has known Caitlin for years I am willing to bet you anything that is what has happened to her too, and she is losing the fight, we have to find her fast."

Both Iris and Cisco were shocked that Barry had not said a word then they noticed that his hand was on his earpiece. "Okay H.R, thanks." Barry said with a depressed sigh and he noticed both of his friends were looking at him for answers. "That was H.R, he spotted another cold spike, like the one we used before to track Caitlin." Barry explained.

"It's at the other acolyte's house, right?" Iris asked.

"No, it's right down the street from Blake Adder's house."

"Oh my god, she's going to kill him." Cisco observed as his eyes became wide with shock.

"That's what I am assuming, Killer Frost seems to have a crush on me so I think she tried to split me up from my friends and now she is trying to kill Adder so I will have no choice but to turn to her for help with living on the run." Barry said as he looked depressed but he pushed past it because he knew they needed to get moving. "Iris we need to get there and I can't run on my leg, yet."

"Will you be okay once we get there?" Iris asked concerned.

"Yeah, I think if I can just put it up for a few minutes so it will heal." Barry explained and then added a question. "Did you bring your car?"

"You mean the one you just smashed the front bumper of?, Yeah it's right behind you." Iris replied dryly as she walked over and placed the bootgun in the trunk and then Cisco helped Barry into the back seat of the car as Iris made her way to the driver's seat.

"You know I am still mad at you." Cisco stated as he helped Barry into the car.

"I know." Barry replied and his voice was full of understand.

"But that can wait until after we have stopped Killer Frost from murdering anyone and blowing our cover at the same time, you remember what Adder said would happen if anything were to happen to him?" Cisco said gravely as he got into the backseat of the car with Barry.

"I know, that is just one more reason we have to stop her, that and I am not about to let the woman I love spend the rest of her life in jail or on the run for a crime someone else committed using her body." Barry stated and there was a look of grim determination on his face as Iris pulled the car away from the curb and sped off into the night taking him to another confrontation with Killer Frost. Now that Barry had some facts to go on and some hope he was more determined than ever to save Caitlin from Killer Frost, even if it killed him.

 **Okay well that is chapter 18. I promise coming latter in the story it will be explained why Cisco turned too and this is staying a Snowbarry story, it will just take a few more chapters before things are back to normal again, or at least whatever passes for normal for The Flash.**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter.**

 **As always thanks for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing.**

 **You guys are the best. :)**

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Stop Here." Barry ordered Iris and the car came to a halt about half way down the street from Blake Adder's house. "If Caitlin is in there and she is holding Adder or someone else hostage to draw me out, I don't want her to hear us coming." Barry then explained. Iris nodded that she understood.

"Are you sure you are the best one to handle this?" Cisco asked from the seat beside Barry and he seemed nervous for some reason that Barry couldn't pin down.

"Yeah, my leg is feeling fine now, or at least good enough to handle this." Barry responded as he opened the car door on his side.

"That isn't what I meant." Cisco stated and Barry could tell he was still mad at him over Dante's death, but there was something else there as Cisco seemed to be preparing for the worst.

"Well what did you mean?" Iris asked as she poked her head out of the car window and part of her was afraid to hear the answer, because she knew that whatever Cisco had to say could hurt Barry, she just hoped he resisted the temptation to twist the knife and watch as Barry's inner conflict and guilt tore him apart.

"What I mean is that since Barry was the one to get Caitlin mad enough to become Killer Frost in the first place, maybe him going in there isn't the best idea, if the idea is to calm her down." Cisco stated pointedly and looked directly at Barry as he said the last part.

"That is why I have to go, I caused this problem and I have to make it right." Barry stated firmly.

This simply drew a bitter and sarcastic half laugh from Cisco.

"Well who do we think we should send, You?!" Barry demanded and his emotions were starting to get the best of him and he was coming off as angry with Cisco.

"Why not?, I didn't screw up her life by messing with time!" Cisco spat back at Barry.

"Yeah, because having you go in there and turn into your evil self from Earth 2 again is such a great idea, Then I can take on two of you at once." Barry responded sarcastically.

"Enough!" Iris Yelled as she stepped out of the car and place herself between Cisco and Barry. "Barry is right, he has to be the one to go in because we can't trust your powers." Iris stated more calmly as she took control of the situation.

"Big surprise, you talking his side, you are practically his sister." Cisco huffed as he slowly backed down and then as Barry pulled his mask over his face he stated more calmly. "Barry, try to remember that the woman in there is not Caitlin, it's Killer Frost. I know, I am going through the same thing. If you pull your punches she will kill you." Cisco then sat down on the front passenger seat of the car with a huff. Barry nodded that he understood and then flashed away to his battle with Killer Frost.

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When The Flash arrived at the front door of Adder's mansion he instantly knew Killer Frost was there, waiting for him inside. There was a deathly chill in the air, and a light mist hung around everything. The Flash carefully made his way to the big front doors which looked to have been forced open by a powerfull blast of ice, and as he did so he found a security guard frozen solid in the standing position with his weapon draw and a look of terror on his face. As The Flash used his hands to vibrate really fast to thaw out the guard and save his life he found himself asking the same question that had been bouncing around inside his head all night and now into the wee hours of the morning, could he bring himself to hurt or kill Killer Frost if that was the only way to protect other people, was it worth it to save a scumbag like Adder? His heart rate sped up as panic over took him, he couldn't imagine harming Caitlin for any reason, but he also knew she wouldn't want him to let Killer Frost use her body to go on a killing spree. Then again this was all his fault, so could he really harm her, did he have that right? He once again could find no answer as he finished thawing out the guard and made sure he was okay, that is when he heard it, the unmistakable sound of Blake Adder crying out in pain. He had to get to the scene of the attack fast or he, Caitlin, and the rest of his friends and family were all screwed. He knew if Adder died then all the information about them that Adder had would go public and they would all face prison time, and after everything else he had done to them he couldn't let that happen to any members of his friends or family. The Flash quickly flashed inside and in the directions of the cries. He came to a halt in Adder's large bedroom and what he saw there shocked him.

Adder was pinned to solid wood of the far side wall by shackles made of solid ice that pinned his wrists in place and seemed to be giving him a bad case of frostbite. Adder was mere inches from a solid metal door that had a fingerprint scanner on it, The Flash guessed that was a panic room that Adder had been making a beeline for when he had been literally stopped cold.

"Do you really think sending the little women to do your dirty work will change anything?!" Adder demanded as he looked over Killer Frost's shoulder and directly at The Flash.

"I am no one's "little woman" and unless you want your death to be even more painful you should remember that!" Killer Frost hissed as she blew some of her ice cold breath across Adder's chest, this produced another scream with the tech giant slash crime boss. She then spun around quickly and turned her attention to The Flash and slowly began making her way over to him as she spoke. "So Flash did you decide to come over and join in the fun?"

"No." The Flash stated as firmly as he could manage.

"Oh, that is too bad, because this is going to be fun and it will get you off of the hook so you don't answer to this creep anymore. Oh and with you here it will be twice as much fun as it was going to be. I call that a win win situation." Killer Frost replied and her voice took on a mock pouting tone to it as she drew up close to Barry's face and she touched his chest as she whispered in his ear. "After all what is more fun then embracing who you really are and what you really want."

"I don't want this." The Flash insisted in a voice just barely above whisper as he tried to pull away from Killer Frost, but she matched him step for step as he got closer and closer to the wall that was behind him.

"I don't think you mean that Flash, or at least parts of you don't mean that." Killer Frost whisper seductively as The Flash backed into the wall and she pressed her body against his.

The Flash had to take in a gulp of the icy air that surrounded them both before he could reply. "No, I am here for Caitlin, I want her, not what you are trying to turn her into, I know she is stronger than you. You hear that Caitlin, I know you can beat this, all you have to do is fight it!" The Flash said loudly, hoping somewhere inside Caitlin would hear him and gain control.

"Caitlin and I are one and the same now, that is something you are going to have to learn to live with from now on Flash, you can't have one without the other." Killer Frost insisted as she pulled herself off of The Flash.

"Maybe, but I know she can keep you locked away in a tiny corner of her mind, and never let you out again, then you will know what a mistake you made by trying to mess with her." Barry shot back.

"Is that what you really want for her?" Killer Frost asked and it was clear she was becoming angry. "To fight a never ending battle with herself and to never be at peace or whole, to always have to be on her guard? I thought you loved her."

"I do, in a way that someone like you would never understand and that is why I know she could never live with herself if you make her do what you are about to do." The Flash stated sternly as he stepped back from the wall and now he was the one causing Killer Frost to back away from him. "Whatever happen to "First do no harm being written into your D.N.A" Caitlin, what happened to the you who wouldn't let me put Grodd down, what happened to the you who understood why I get depressed every time I can't save someone?" Barry demanded.

"Caitlin was weak, that is why she needs me, she was always getting ignored and walked all over, and now you put her under the control of this monster!" Killer Frost barked and looked to her right in the direction of Adder. "I am just helping her have the strength to do what she has always wanted to do."

"Really?" The Flash asked with disbelief in his voice. "Then why not let her tell me that herself."

"I can do better then that." Killer Frost said in a small calm voice. "I can show you!" She then yelled as she formed some sharp shards of ice in her hands and then tossed them hard in the direction of Adder who was still frozen to the wall.

The Flash found himself reacting in well…, a flash. With a burst of speed he grabbed all the shards and threw them to the floor where they shattered, he then grabbed Adder and with all his might pried him loose from the wall and flashed him outside, before in the blink of an eye returning to the bed room and Killer Frost. When Killer Frost noticed what he had done she let lose a high pitched shriek and filled the room with an icy fog. The Flash could not see her, but he could hear where she was and that was the moment he knew that in order to save Caitlin, he was going to have to hurt her, it tore him up inside but it had to be done. Ignoring the pain in his ankle and the freezing cold all around him, he charged forward at super speed into the mist, only slowing down just enough so he wouldn't hurt Caitlin too badly, and he hit her hard and she collided with the solid wood of the wall and then hit the floor hard. The Flash's ankle then choose that moment to give out on him and he slipped on the icy floor and landed right next to her, panting hard from the effort he had put into the charge and the pain.

"That was pretty cold Flash." Killer Frost complained and then she quickly flipped over so she was sitting on top of The Flash and leaned down. "Still it's not as cold as this." Killer Frost then leaned down and kissed The Flash hard on the lips. At First out of pure instinct and because this was the closest he had been to Caitlin in a long time The Flash responded in kind, but a second later reason took over and he tried to break away, but it was too late, he was frozen in place as he felt the heat of his body begin to slip away and he was losing feeling in his face, hands, and feet. The Flash had just about lost all hope when he heard a heavy metal clang above him and then Killer Frost's eyes slammed shut and she fell unconscious on top of him. He began vibrating really fast to restore feeling to his limbs and heat his body up, it was as he was doing this that he noticed the form of Iris standing above him holding a silver severing tray that had been on the bedside table, he deduced that she had just hit Killer Frost over the head with it and knocked her out, as he pushed Killer Frost off of himself.

"So it turns out I agree with Cisco, sending you up here alone was a bad idea, and looks like we were both right, can't you two keep your hands off each other for five minutes?!" Iris said sarcastically and The Flash slowly stood up.

"Hhh..her idea." The Flash shivered in reply.

"Really?" Iris said as she shot him a look that told him she found it hard to believe he was not a willing party to the scene she had just walked in on.

"Not you too." Barry groaned as he removed his mask. "I just had to try and convince her that I want Caitlin and not her."

"Yeah, I can see you were really working hard at that." Iris replied and she was having way too much fun teasing Barry over this than she had any right to have.

"Just help me lift her up and get her to the car, so we can get her to S.T.A.R Labs before she wakes up." Barry said changing the subject and bending down to pick Killer Frost up, normally he would be able to lift her easily without any help, but thanks to his bad ankle and the number of stairs they would have to go down he knew he couldn't at that moment.

"Whatever you say." Iris said as she took some of Caitlin's weight and holding her between the two of them she helped drag her out of the room and down the stairs. "Just so you know, next time I am not interrupting the moment, I don't need to see you two making out."

"She was freezing me to death!" Barry protested.

"Sssuure, I am pretty sure if she wanted you frozen to death you would be dead." Iris stated with a roll of her eyes and then added more gravely. "What are we going to do with her once we get her back to S.T.A.R Labs?"

"I don't know." Barry said as a lump formed in is throat. "When we were up there fighting it was like there wasn't anything of Caitlin left, what if she is gone for good, or this is who she is from now on?"

"One problem at a time." Iris said firmly, she knew now that she had to be there for Barry because Cisco wasn't ready to be there for him, not yet at any rate, and her father was distracted with Wally back at S.T.A.R Labs, and the person who normally helped him through these problems was knock out between them. "I am sure we will find the answer but until then I am sorry but I think there is only one place that is safe for her."

"Yeah, the pipeline." Barry said with a resigned sigh, and it was clear he hated the idea of locking up his Caitlin in that place.

"Well I am sure when she wakes up she will be back to her old self if we get the cuffs on her when we get back there." Iris replied with forced cheer. "We are just being careful."

"Yeah, I only hope you are right." Barry replied with a hint of disbelief in his tone as they made their way out of the mansion and in the direction of the car.

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Despite everyone's insistence that he go to the hospital and get his ribs and ankle checked out, because none of them knew how to operate the medical equipment in S.T.A.R Labs, Barry refused to leave Caitlin's side except to change into his normal cloths as she was gently placed on the cot in a cell in The Pipeline. He just sat on the floor quietly, waiting for Caitlin to wake up, leaning against the reinforced glass that made up the cell door. There was a feeling that was a mixture of pure exhaustion and guilt that was being given off by his whole body and so everyone decided to leave him alone. Joe started fuming about Wally still being trapped and with Caitlin down there having no way of knowing what to do about it, H.R following swiftly behind him. Cisco went off somewhere to sulk, and that just left Iris. It wasn't like she didn't want to help Wally, she did more then anything, but her practical side told her she had no idea how to do that, and Barry was the one she could help, maybe, but he didn't respond when she tried to talk him into getting some rest, so she decided it was best to just leave him to himself for a while, she had never felt so helpless in all her life. Team Flash was falling apart and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it, well almost nothing, she could talk to Cisco. She found him brooding in his lab, he had taken the boot off of his neck and was now sitting at his work bench looking down at a new gadget of some kind he was working on.

"He had no way to know this would happen and he would do anything to fix it, you know that, right?" Iris asked gently as she made her way over in front of the workbench where Cisco was fiddling with something.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry that I shot at you earlier." Cisco replied in a neutral tone.

"It's okay, that wasn't really you." Iris said reassuringly but it had not escaped her notice that Cisco had yet to apologize to Barry for doing the same thing to him.

"Here is the thing, part of it was me." Cisco said and he refused to look up from his tinkering as he made the confession. "It's like Reverb was using how I really felt deep down and just turning it up to eleven."

"So, you really did want to kill me?" Iris asked trying not to let the shock she felt enter her voice.

"No, not you." Cisco stated flatly.

"So you did want to kill Barry?" Iris pressed and this got a reaction from Cisco as he threw the gadget he was working on against the wall to the left, shattering it into a million pieces.

"What do you want from me?!" Cisco demanded and it was clear he was forcing his eyes not to tear up. "Barry screws up all the time, and yet no one is allowed to be angry with him just because he is sorry. Sorry will not bring back Dante, Sorry will not bring my mom out of the depression she has been in since the funeral, feeling sorry doesn't make up for the fact that just as Dante and I had worked things out he was taken from me!"

"Are you sure all of this anger is because of what Barry did?" Iris asked gently as she took one of Cisco's hands in her's trying to calm him down.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cisco demanded but he was a little more quiet as he said this.

"Well the last one on the list sounds like you are angry at yourself for wasting so many years fighting with Dante." Iris stated.

"Yeah, maybe you are right." Cisco conceded. "Maybe part of this is just as much my fault as Barry's, but it doesn't change the fact that I only ran out of time because of his mistake."

"Yeah, well remember it was Barry's fight with Zoom that brought you two back together again, so Barry is also responsible for the time you two did have together." Iris stated.

"Who's side are you on, any way?" Cisco fumed as he pulled away from Iris' touch and began pacing back and forth.

"Your side." Iris insisted as she matched his pace and wouldn't let him look away from her. "I just don't think being so angry at your best friend that you want to kill him is in your best interest, and it sure as hell isn't who you have been since I met you three years ago."

"Yeah, well maybe this is the real me." Cisco said with a huff.

"I don't think so, in the darkest times I have seen you lift everyone's spirits up with a joke, or coming up with a stupid name for the bad guy we are dealing with, you are not the type of person who ends a friendship over a mistake that no one could have seen coming, that isn't you Cisco." Iris replied forcefully and noticing that Cisco had stopped pacing and was looking at her she added. "If you think Barry is okay with what he did you need to take a look at him, right now he needs you, hell the team needs you more then ever. He is dying inside because of the guilt and he doesn't think he has the right to ask for help, he may be about to lose Caitlin forever if she decides to be Killer Frost, so please don't become Reverb on him." Iris pleaded.

"Don't worry I will not." Cisco stated and he tried his best to sound reassuring. "It's just it's hard for me to know how to feel, that is what I am trying to make you understand. It would be easy for me to hate Barry, but part of me doesn't want to because I see what is happening to him, I mean he may lose Caitlin twice, at least I only lost Dante once. Still I get in the same room with him and all I can think about is Dante and I feel like I am going to throw up just from looking at him."

"I know, this can't be easy on you. Hell I may be about to lose my own brother and part of me wants to blame that on Barry, but somehow I can't because I don't think anyone will feel worse than me if my blaming him leads to him giving up on life, like he was in the middle of doing just a few days ago." Iris said as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"I know, I just don't know what to do." Cisco replied and he sounded a little broken himself.

"Promise me you will do your best to hold onto the part of yourself that is still his best friend, you don't have to forgive him right away, just promise me you will try not to hate him or go off on him." Iris was once again pleading with Cisco now and for reasons he couldn't explain Cisco found himself giving in.

"Okay, I will try, but it's not going to get better overnight." Cisco said with a sigh and a sense of shared relief seemed to wash over the both of them for some reason.

"That's all I ask." Iris replied gratefully and then what Cisco said next surprised her.

"Maybe we should go check on him." Iris had a bit of a shocked look on her face, so Cisco quickly clarified his statement. "I mean make sure that Killer Frost hasn't woken up and found away to trick him into letting her out, he doesn't seem to have the clearest head when it comes to dealing with her."

"Do any of us, when it comes to dealing with the ones we love?" Iris asked.

"No, I guess not. That is just one more reason we should check on him." Cisco stated trying to sound neutral but it was clear to Iris that he wasn't just interested in keeping Killer Frost locked up as the two of them made their way out of the lab and in the direction of The Pipeline.

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When Iris and Cisco got to the entrance to The Pipeline they found that the events of the day and night that had past must have finally caught up with Barry, he was passed out, dead to the world, but still leaning against the glass door to Caitlin's cell, and he was snoring rather loudly. Iris and Cisco were about to turn around and leave when suddenly Caitlin began to stir and she stretched out her arms and yawns as she sat up on the cot in her cell. This was all it took to wake Barry from his sound sleep and have him jumping to his feet as he rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. Iris and Cisco approached the cell, both hoping for the best but preparing themselves for the worst.

"Thanks guys, guess all I needed was a little nap to get me back to normal." Caitlin said lightly. "I'm fine now, you can let me out." This just drew blank looks from Cisco and Iris and a disappointed look from Barry which he did his best to conceal. "Not, buying it?" Caitlin observed and she didn't seem too bothered by this fact.

"Maybe it has something to do with your voice still having an echo to it and your eye still having that creepy evil glow to them, you may want to work on that before the next time you try to fool people into thinking you are Caitlin." Cisco responded sarcastically.

"Oh, but I am Caitlin." Killer Frost taunted, dropping all pretense and focusing her attention directly on Barry. "I am every thought, grudge, feeling, and desire she has ever suppressed, I just let her have an outlet for all those parts of herself that you don't want to see."

"No, you aren't really her. We all have things about ourselves we have to work to control, and Caitlin will learn to control you." Barry stated firmly and there was anger in his eyes.

"You know if you don't like this version of Caitlin, why not just go back in time and create another version that is more to your liking? It's not like I can do anything to stop you." Killer Frost challenged.

"I would never do that."

"Why not, you did it before. You didn't like me being dead and now I am back and trying to help you, is what you have problem with? I guess you prefer Caitlin weak and helpless and unable to stand up to you."

"That's not true, he was willing to let Caitlin go and you know that, stop playing your mind games with him!" Iris spat out before Barry could respond.

"Really, then why doesn't he accept who I really am and let me go now?" Killer Frost demanded.

"Because this isn't who you are Caitlin, and I will not let you become a killer." Barry stated as he tried to keep all emotion out of his voice and give Caitlin a chance to fight back against Killer Frost.

"I was just trying to help you, and you seemed to be enjoying it, until we were interrupted by the bitch over there." Killer Frost stated with a sly smile.

"How would killing Adder of helped me, or anyone else?" Barry demanded.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Killer Frost asked as if she was talking to an idiot. "Right now you have to do whatever Adder tells you and how long do you think it will be before he orders you to kill for him and by that point you will do it like the good little trained dog you are, you can't be a hero as long as you answer to Adder."

"I can't be a hero if I am on the run, either." Barry pointed out.

"Oh, sure you can, if people don't want to accept what you did to protect them, then they don't deserve you in the first place." Killer Frost replied coldly.

"You think you do!" Barry yelled through clenched teeth as he banged his fist on the glass door. This only resulted in a smile spreading across Killer Frost's face.

"You are still not ready to admit we are the same Flash." She said with a laugh. "We both got our powers by mistake and we both use them to get whatever we want out of life and we don't care who we hurt to get it." Killer Frost tossed a quick glance in Cisco's direction before she returned her attention to Barry. "We are both gods who step on others because they are beneath us, the only difference is you make excuses for who and what you are and try to be something you are not, I openly embrace who I am and I don't lie about it."

"No, you are the one who is hiding." Barry responded pointedly. "You think you are a god when you couldn't even defeat me and you want to be a killer because you are scared of what the world will do to you if you don't do it to them first. You are the coward and the one pretending to be something you are not. I have hurt people and I don't expect them ever to forgive me, but you hurt them because you think it is fun."

"So feeling bad about it makes hurting people okay!" Killer Frost responded and now she was clearly angry. "So choosing to save Stein instead of Ronnie so you could have me all to yourself, that is fine because you feel bad about it?! Choosing your family over Cisco's, that's fine because you wallow in self pity after it is all over?! Oh and let's not forget working for that piece of shit Adder, that is fine as long as you are depressed after you let people be hurt by him?! You may not be the real villain but it is time you stopped pretending to be a hero, Let me out of here and I will show you who we both really are!"

"Not going to happen." Barry muttered as he looked down at the floor and his eyes filled with tears.

"Well then I will just have to let you watch as your world falls apart, and in the end you will be begging me to show you how the world really works and who you really are, because that is the only way out of this, and then I will make you watch as I slowly take everything from you until you admit the truth, you love me and you want me and you need me to show you how to unleash your true power. I am here and Caitlin is just a part of me, you will have to accept that one day!" Killer Frost's rant was then cut short by the door to The pipeline slamming shut locking her cell on the other side. Barry spun around to see Iris with her hand on the door's control panel.

"I don't think you need to hear any more of that." She said gently as she tried to calm Barry down, but there was not time. Suddenly all the lights flickered and this was quickly follow by a loud boom coming from the direction of The Cortex and the floor shaking for a few seconds.

"Now what?" Barry sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

"I don't know, but big explosions in this place are rarely good." Cisco pointed out, and then the three of them dashed in the direction of The Cortex, as they entered it was quite the scene that was spread out before them.

Everything in The Cortex was slightly out of place and several of the computer monitors were damaged and displaying nothing but static. Joe and H.R were gathering themselves off of the floor they have clearly been thrown to by the blast, and between then an electric bone saw lay on the floor. Scattered all over the floor were what looked like pieces of the cocoon Wally had been trapped in, and in the center Wally stood, only he didn't look okay in fact he was looking like Barry did whenever he phased through a solid object, only he was standing still with a very confused look on his face.

"Wally?" Iris said with her heart in her throat as she stepped closer to her brother's form, but he didn't seem to hear her and suddenly sped out of the Cortex. Barry gave chase but he quickly lost him a few blocks from S.T.A.R Labs, and so he returned to The Cortex to try and find out what had happened and come up with a plan to deal with it.

"Did you do this?" Barry demanded as he pointed an accusing finger at H.R and let loose all the anger that had build up over the past day's events.

"No, I did, I talked him into helping me do this to my boy." Joe injected before H.R could defend himself, and Barry looked over and his eyes were full of tears.

"Joe, we will get Wally back." Barry said in a comforting tone.

"How?" Joe demanded. "We have no idea how to fix what I did to him by cutting him out of that thing and we have to find him and we have no idea how to do that."

"We take it one step at a time." Barry stated as he took control of the situation, he didn't want to be, but at that moment he knew everyone needed him in team leader mode so that was what he did. "First we figure out what is wrong with Wally, then we figure out how to fix it, and then we find him." Barry said laying out a course of action.

"Fine, then what you do think is wrong with him?" Iris asked as she stepped up beside Barry.

"Well he looked like me when I am phasing so it could just mean that his molecules are out of phase, like mine are when I phase through objects." Barry stated.

"So all we need is a compound to stabilize them and he should be fine." Cisco said hopefully.

"Great, but how do we make this compound, anyone have any idea?" H.R asked putting a dampener on everyone's hopes.

"I hate to admit it, but it sounds like we could really use the help of a biochemist right about now." Iris stated weakly and she knew how much this hurt Barry to hear but to his credit, he didn't flinch, he just turned and with a determined look on his face walked quickly out of The Cortex and in the direction of The Pipeline, and then to everyone's surprise Cisco quickly gave chase with a desperate look on his face.

"Barry!, Barry!, Barry!" Cisco called after him as he chased him down the hall but Barry seemed to be ignoring him, so Cisco grabbed the sleeve of Barry's shirt when he caught up with him, forcing the speedster to turn and face him.

"What?" Barry demanded.

"Please, don't tell me you are going to do what I think you are going to do." Cisco said and there was a desperate lost look on his face.

"If you think I am going to let Caitlin out and ask for her help, then you are right, we are out of options Cisco, but don't worry I will not let her harm anyone." Barry stated with pure determination in his voice and normally Cisco wouldn't argue with him on this point, but this was one time he knew for sure that he had to.

"If you do that you will die." Cisco stated and for a brief moment Barry could see that his old friend was back.

"You don't know that for sure, and as long as there is a chance of helping Wally I will take that chance." Barry stated.

"Yes I do!" Cisco almost yelled and he surprised Barry by grabbing him and slamming him against the wall and he took advantage of Barry's surprise to try and explain. "Yesterday Caitlin brought in your coffee mug and she asked me to vibe both her and the mug at the same time so I could see your future together, and I lied to her because I hoped that by knowing the future I could stop it, and now is the time I have to stop it."

"Well, what did you see?" Barry demanded and now Cisco's eye did have a tear in it.

"I saw her in full blown Killer Frost mode and you letting her out of The Pipeline and then she drove an icicle through your heart, you were dead, man." Cisco explained to a disbelieving Barry and then he added pleading. "Look just because I am mad at you right now doesn't mean I want you to die and I don't think either of us wants Caitlin to have to go through looking on as Killer Frost murders you, I am begging you, please don't go down there."

"Maybe this is the way it is supposed to end." Barry said with a sigh and this took Cisco by surprise to such a degree that he let go of Barry and took a few steps back.

"Look I know you feel guilty, but you can't start thinking that way." Cisco stated.

"Maybe Killer Frost killing me is just the shock Caitlin will need to take control and then she will save Wally." Barry stated with out a hint of emotion in his voice.

"That can't be your plan." Cisco stated in disbelief.

"Why not, maybe this is how I make up for everything I have done. I have to do this, I have to give her the choice, both Wally and Caitlin's lives hang on it, there is no other choice, I am taking the chance." Barry said and it was clear that no one was going to talk him out of the course of action he had chosen and at that moment Cisco forgot all the anger he had been feeling and could only remember that this was his best friend standing in front of him who was about to go to his death, and so he did the one thing that neither one of them expected, he reached out and hugged Barry.

"You're my best friend, even when I am mad at you and I forgive you, I hope you know that." Cisco said as he let go.

"Yeah, I know that." Barry said quietly. "Thanks for always being there for me."

"No problem, bro." Was all Cisco could think to say as Barry slowly turned away and made his way down to The Pipeline and his confrontation with Killer Frost, he meant what he had said, he was willing to die if that was what it would take to save both Wally and Caitlin, there was no other option in his mind as he opened the door to The Pipeline and then to Killer Frost's surprise he opened the door to her cell.

Killer Frost stepped out of her cell cautiously, as if she didn't trust the situation or Barry's seemingly sudden change of heart, she looked at him but couldn't read any emotions on his face and this confused her, so she decided to go on the attack and see what she could get out of him.

"So Flash, have you finally decided you want me, or do you just need me to show you how to let go of your morals and do what needs to be done to Adder, or someone else?" Killer Frost asked.

"You're free to go." Barry stated and much to Killer Frost's surprise neither his voice or body language betrayed any emotion. What she didn't know was that Barry had made peace with what was about to happen he knew he was mere moments away from being stabbed to death, so he had let go of everything, this wasn't an act he really was just that cold at that moment, doing what needed to be done down to his last breath.

"What's the catch?" Killer Frost asked suspiciously, and she could tell something was up because Barry was matching her move for move so she could not get out of the small hallway without going through him.

"No catch you just have to kill me if you want to get out." The coldness of this statement caught Killer Frost off guard so she tried to regain control of the situation the only way she knew how, by baiting The Flash.

"You want to fight Flash, is that it?" She asked as a small smile played across her lips, maybe this would be fun after all.

"No." Barry stated and his voice still lacked all emotion. "I will not fight you, but if you want to get out of here you have to kill me." He then took a step closer to her and reacting out of pure instinct Killer Frost formed a sharp icicle in her hand and raised it to strike at Barry's chest.

"Don't think I will not, if it is the only way out of here." Killer Frost warned, she had never seen anyone with this much disregard for their own life, this was taking all the fun out of it, and every second she stood there with The Flash in front of her she could feel Caitlin becoming stronger in the back of her mind, she needed to end this foolishness fast.

"I know you will." Barry stated and he took a step forward and grabbed Killer Frost's hand and placed the tip of the icicle right over the center of his heart and pressed his chest against it. "Time for you to live up to your name, Killer Frost." He taunted. "You want to be a villain, well this is what villains do, they kill those they love because they are in their way."

"Well get out of my way and that will not be a problem." Killer Frost said through clenched teeth.

"No chance I have been waiting to see this." Barry said as his voice took on a harsh tone. "Come on, you keep calling yourself Killer Frost and I am ready to see some killing, so just do it, push the icicle forward and do it." Barry demanded. When Killer Frost failed to act right away Barry decided to press his advantage, suddenly he had hope that maybe Cisco's vibe had been wrong somehow, maybe he could still have a future with Caitlin, but he had to help her break free of Killer Frost first. "Do it!" He yelled into her face and suddenly Caitlin's eyes turned normal and she dropped the icicle which then shattered on the metal floor.

"Oh, Barry I am so sorry. I love you." She began sobbing and Barry reached out and grabbed her in a hug. "I'm sorry I nearly killed you, I love you and I can't do it, I am so sorry." She just kept sobbing into Barry's shirt as she held on to him for dear life and he rubbed her back as he hugged her and kept telling her it was okay and he forgave her, over and over. Then slowly the hugging somehow turned to kissing, neither one of them could tell who had started it, but for the first time in weeks they were kissing, letting out all of the tension that had built of over the past day into every kiss. Suddenly Barry broke off the kissing and pulled away from Caitlin and he looked into her tear stained eyes as he spoke.

"I would love to continue this." He said and this drew a small smile from Caitlin as she looked at him and saw for the first time that he had been crying just as hard as she had been, somehow there was a relief to be found in knowing they were on the same page at that moment and feeling the same things. "But there is a problem with Wally and you are the only one who can help him."

"Of course, we need to take care of Wally. Just tell me what the problem is. " Caitlin said with a sniff and she wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt. She then took Barry's hand in her's and allowed him to lead the way to The Cortext as he explained the problem to her.

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It took Caitlin about two hours to figure out how to mix up a compound that when injected into to Wally would return him to normal, and she was grateful for the distraction because she really didn't want to think about what she had almost done to the man she loved, or the fact that some tiny part of her had wanted to do it, and that was what had let Killer Frost take control.

Barry and Joe had found found Wally right where Joe's gut had told him he would be found, outside of his mother's house just at the break of dawn and the compound had worked and Wally was returned to normal, only now he had the speedforce in him just like Barry. Caitlin had checked him out and she reported that he was perfectly healthy to a very tired and relieved Team Flash. Everyone was yawning, it was nearly seven in the morning and they had all been on the run for almost twenty-four hours straight. This was when Barry spoke, once again in team leader mode.

"Everyone take the day off and get some sleep, I think we all need it." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with Barry's statement, and then he continued. "Be back here tomorrow ready to work on our next problem."

"What next problem?" Cisco asked with a yawn, looking at Barry through half closed eyes.

"Killer Frost was right about one thing." Barry stated and this drew a shocked and concerned look from Caitlin. "We can't be heroes as long as Blake Adder is pulling our strings, so starting tomorrow we fight back. We find out everything we can about him, we find a way to discredit him so even if he does try to blow our cover no one will believe him, and we find away to take him down alive and inside the law. We don't stand on the sidelines while he commits any more crimes. We are not his puppets and starting tomorrow we show him that."

"Sounds like a plan and you can count me in." Wally said as he emerged from the medbay.

"Not before we make sure you are one hundred percent okay." A concerned Iris stated.

"Fine, but I am a part of this team and I am going to help." Wally stated and Iris could see the same determination in his eyes that she got when researching a dangerous news story that her father and Barry had told her to back off of, and she knew that as much as she wanted to protect her younger brother, she couldn't stop him from being a part of the new team, she didn't have that right any more then her father or Barry had.

"Okay." Iris conceded and if Joe had the energy or wasn't remembering how badly he had screwed things up earlier, he would have objected, as it stood he just got a worried look on his face and turned and left.

"Sounds like I need to start working on a new suit." Cisco said as he stood up and left and a few minutes later that left that Barry and Caitlin standing alone in The Cortex.

Caitlin walked up to Barry nervously and she looked at him with pleading eyes and she knew she had no right to ask what she was about to ask, but something was making her any way. "Barry would you mind coming back to our place with me?"

"Okay." Barry replied gently and this shocked Caitlin and she felt like she needed to explain herself and the reason behind her request, even though she was pretty sure Barry already knew the reason.

"It's just after everything that has happened I don't think I can get to sleep alone, this whole thing has been a nightmare and I am so sorry I put you through it." Caitlin said and she finished on a small sob.

"Hey it's okay, remember I know what it is like when your bottled up anger is suddenly let loose and out of control, I would never hold that against you, and it will not change how I feel about you." Barry stated gently as he reached out and wiped the tear from Caitlin's eye.

"Thank you, you have no idea what this means to me." Caitlin replied gratefully and she took Barry's hand in her's and they walked out of The Cortex.

"Just remember, it's sleep only. No funny business." Barry stated firmly.

"I know save it for the honeymoon." Caitlin said mockingly, repeating Barry's words from what felt like a life time ago when Barry explained his rules for dating and being engaged. Caitlin then added playfully. "You have no idea what you are missing out on." Echoing her words from their "date" just a few days before.

"Well don't worry, I still look forward to finding out." Barry replied playfully and then he flashed them both out of S.T.A.R Labs and to their home for some well earned sleep, they both knew they still had a lot to talk about when it came to the past day's events, but for the moment they were both willing to settle for a peaceful sleep, so that's what they did.

 **Okay that is finally over. Sorry it took so long but I had trouble remembering how I ended this part of the story when I first wrote it and then you know me when it comes to rewriting things, and then I decided I just wanted to get this episode done with in one chapter.**

 **Oh for those who have asked, yes I will be covering the alien invasion plot line but sadly that will not come for a while as I am going to place it in the same time frame the show aired in, so for the rest of the summer Team Flash will be dealing with Adder and some other problems I have come up with that tie in with the over all theme of the season arc. Also after this I may be doing some quick fun chapters that are little less intense and Yes Barry and Caitlin will have to deal with what just happened, just not right now.**

 **As for other plot points from this season people have asked about, well I don't want to give away spoilers but if you look on SF Debris' facebook page you will see that back when Savitar first showed up I did call that [Spoilers] was Savitar as it was the only thing that made sense to me and even if he or she had not been in the show I was planing to make this person Savitar in my version of the season, because it ties in perfectly with the theme of the seasons. I also called [spoilers] being the non-speedster big bad for season four that the producers were talking about in interviews earlier this year, and it looks like I was right but we will have see how the season ends to confirm this. However while I will not rush anything, this story that was supposed to be a one shot is already my second longest story ever written for this site, so I am not sure I will go down that road or if I do it will be in a sequel story. Don't worry though I think we are only about a third of the way through this story so there is plenty more to come. Also I believe in happy endings for this type of story so we will see how things play out in the end.**

 **Thank you are for your kind support in whatever form it comes and don't worry now chapter will be shorter and you will get more per week as I am now done with everything I wrote before and am going into my own plot with it's own villains and a surprise or two.**

 **Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what works and what doesn't work about this and any other chapter.**

 **As always you guys are the best! :)**


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Barry Allen got just over two hours of sleep before his phone started blaring loudly, forcing him out of his deep sleep. It took him a minute or two to get his barrings and figure out that he wasn't in the small spare room of Cisco's apartment, but he was in fact in his and Caitlin's bedroom at their apartment. The whole time his mind was shaking the sleep from it and he was getting his barring by trying to recall why he was where he was in the first place Caitlin was grumbling in her sleep beside him "Stupid telephone, turn it off", or less polite words to that affect. Barry reached over and picked the phone off of his bedside table and answered it, when he did so before he could even get his name out he was greeted by Joe's voice and he was speaking quickly and with a great deal of urgency in his voice.

"Barry, Albert is waking up form that hit you gave him last night and detective Paterson is on his way to the hospital to get his statement right now, if you don't want Albert to tell him it was Caitlin who kidnapped him, then you had better get over there right now and find some way to convince him not to do it." Joe explained and he didn't have to say anything else, Barry was wide awake and full of energy, he wasn't going to let Caitlin go to jail, where he was sure Killer Frost would take her over again.

"Right, I am on my way now." Barry stated and without waiting for a response he hung up the phone and quickly flashed into a fresh set of clothes and was out the door leaving a sleeping Caitlin none the wiser.

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By the time Barry reached the hospital he just caught Paterson down the hall from Julian Albert's room and after feeding the detective some cock and bull story about Julian being his friend and wanting to be sure he was alright, he got permission to talk to him before the detective did and so he steeled himself for the hardest conversation he could imagine having at that moment, trying to convince Julian not to turn in a Meta-Human who had kidnapped and hurt him.

When Barry entered the hospital room he saw that Julian was sitting up in his bed and besides the bandage wrapped around his head and the one wrapped abound his wrist, he looked like his old self, and that included a not too kind look he was shooting Barry. To Barry surprise Julian was the first to speak up and he was terse and to the point.

"Alright Allen let's skip the pretense that you like me, and that you came here to check on my well being and get down to the real business at hand." Julian stated as he slowly got out of the hospital bed.

"Look, Julian." Barry tried his best to explain. "I really did come to make sure you were alright."

"Maybe you did." Julian conceded and then added a little more harshly. "But I think we both know that is not the main reason you are here. You came here because You wife is a Meta and not one of the friendly ones, and she is a danger to the public and if The Flash hadn't showed up she would have killed me, and you want me to lie to the detectives so that she will not have to go to jail."

"Julian I know you think having powers is this zero sum game where you are either good or evil, but it isn't that simple and Caitlin has it under control now and it will not happen again." Barry tried to explain quietly, just in case someone in the hall was listening in.

"Maybe, but then how do you explain her attacking me last night, and what happens the next time she decides to attack someone?" Julian demanded as he looked right at Barry.

"That will not happen." Barry insisted and then seeing that Julian didn't seem to believe him he decided he had no option but to come out with the truth and the whole truth. "Look her powers first showed up six months ago and they came with a split personality of some kind, that isn't her and we have found a way to control it, but if she goes to prison you and I both know she will not get the help she needs and the other "her" will take over. All she has ever done with her life is help people, she is a victim here, please don't make her pay for one night of lost control." Barry finished on a plea and to his shock Julian seemed to soften just a bit and this gave Barry some hope.

"Look Allen, I know this has to be hard for you." He explained unexpectedly kindly. "But we have to look at this practically, what if she can't control this other her and she kills someone next time, then that will be both of our fault."

Barry steeled himself before he spoke his next painful words. "If she starts to get out of control again, I am ready to deal with it and I will be the one who turns her in." Barry stated firmly, and then ended on another plea. "Look I will do anything you want, just please don't turn her in." Barry then had to wait what felt like a life time for Julian to reply.

"You know I was clocked on the head pretty hard, the truth is I don't have a clue who it was who grabbed me, it's all just a blur." Julian stated, repeating the lie he was going to tell Paterson and the department.

"Thanks, Julian." Was all Barry could bring himself to say as he turned to leave the hospital room and that is when Julian spoke up and his voice was firm and left no room for argument.

"There is one thing you can do for me in return." and this caused Barry to turn around and face him once more.

"Sure, just name it." Barry replied and he was far too grateful that Caitlin wasn't going to jail to see the next words coming, so when they did, they cut him to the core.

"Resign from the CCPD." Julian said and then all the colour left Barry's face and Julian continued quietly but firmly. "Look I can over look all the other rule breaking, but there is a reason why there are laws that keep people like us from working cases that involve friends and family, it's because they compromise us, and make no mistake you are compromised Mr. Allen. You can't see clearly where your wife is concerned and no one would expect you to, I wouldn't be able to think clearly if I were in your shoes so I understand where you are coming from, but I a flatly refuse to work with someone who is compromised and is willing to put the public and other officers at risk, to protect his wife. As long as your wife has these powers you have no business in law enforcement. So resign today, or I will introduce the detective to your wife. Do we have a bargain, Mr. Allen?" Julian asked.

Barry could only nod his head in reply and then he slowly made his way out of the hospital room, sticking around the corner just long enough to make sure Julian lived up to his side of the agreement, and then with a heavy heart he flashed off to the CCPD to inform Captain Sighn that he was resigning and to pack up his lab, taking one last sad look around as he left the room that had been a part of his life for so long for one last time. All the years he had spent studying to get into this lab, it had been his life's dream, but maybe Julian was right and he now had no business here. His main reason for taken the job, freeing his dad from prison was gone, and at any rate Caitlin was far more important to him then any job. Maybe this was all for the best and it was time for him to move on from this place that had been his life for so long, he had a new life just waiting for him after all.  
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It was only as Barry piled the last of the boxes of his lab stuff in his and Caitlin's living room that he noticed he had over twenty missed calls from Caitlin on his cell phone, and he was about to call out to her, when she came running into the living room from the direction of their bedroom.

"Where have you been?" Caitlin demanded and there was a hint of panic in her voice. "I was woken up by you flashing out of the room and then I couldn't get a hold of you, what happened?" She then noticed all the boxes as she got with in a few feet of him. "Isn't that all of your stuff from the CCPD, what is it doing here?" She asked.

"Julian woke up, and I had to find some way to talk him out of reporting you." Barry explained and there was a note of depression in his voice.

"So because of what I did, he forced you to resign." Caitlin said in shame as understanding washed over her.

"Yeah, but maybe he was right, he said I was compromised and when it comes to you I am." Barry stated and this only caused Caitlin to turn away from him.

"No, you are the best CSI out there, and you care more about justice then anything." Caitlin insisted firmly and then added numbly. "So, because of me you have lost everything, that job was your life."

No." Barry stated loudly and he grabbed Caitlin and forced her to look at him so she could see that in his eyes there was no regret over what happened. "You are my life, and if I had to do the same thing all over again, I would. This isn't in any way your fault and I don't blame you." Then to press his point home Barry kissed her and when he pulled away he added. "There isn't anyone else in the world I would rather be compromised for, You understand now?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Caitlin said quietly. "I am lucky to have you in my life."

"Hey, I know you would have done the same for me." Barry stated and he tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal.

"You're right, I would." Caitlin said in reply and then the more practical section of her brain kicked in. "You know this means we will have to find a way to make S.T.A.R Labs turn a profit again, so we can add you to the payroll there."

"I hadn't thought about that, but you are right." Barry stated. To him money had always been an after thought, he had always lived simply, focused on freeing his dad from prison, and then when he had become The Flash he didn't have much time to spend money, so he had never really thought of it before. Still now looking down at Caitlin's face and thinking about how they were going to be a married couple soon, and the fact that they had to pay the rent and bills on this place, and the fact that he didn't want to force her to have to wait any longer then she had already waited for them to start a family, the reality of the expenses of living began closing in on him. That is when a thought hit him. "Maybe I will call Oliver and Felicity and see if they have any ideas, after all they both used to run huge corporations, they may be able to give me some pointers in how to get a business as big as S.T.A.R Labs back on it's feet." Barry explained with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"Yeah, but can we do it later?" Caitlin asked with a yawn. "I don't know about you but I could use some more sleep." She said as she turned and made her way into their bedroom and Barry followed.

"You read my mind." Barry said as he crawled into the bedside Caitlin.

"I love you, Barry Allen." Were the last words he heard before he drifted off to sleep.

 **Okay, NOW we are finally done with the Killer Frost episode. Sorry this chapter was so sort but I made a huge mistake, I forget about the scene with Julian when I wrote the last chapter so I had to write this chapter to finish things off, sorry about that. I know most of you are most likely tired of this plotline and from the response it seems most think I handled it poorly, well don't worry this section of the story is now over and we are moving on to new things now.**

 **Thanks for hanging in there.**

 **As always you guys are the best.**

 **P.S if you are not getting alerts when I update this story, that may be because I am getting error messages every time I post a new chapter now. I have emailed support about it, but so far no response. I am sorry about this but I have checked things on my end and it doesn't seem to be a problem with my computer or internet connection, but it does mean that when I post a new chapter for the first time it because a garbled mess or doesn't post at all, and then I have to delete it and then add it to the story again, so that may be the reason for the lack of the alerts. I will be adding new chapters every two days now, so the best advice I can give you for keeping up with this story is to check back with The Flash section every two days and filter for romance stories with Barry and Caitlin in them and see if the new chapter is up yet.**

 **Sorry about this I know it is a pain, but it is the best I can come up with at the moment.**

 **Thank you for your understanding, and I would love to hear if anyone else is having this same problem.**

 **Thank you for your time.**


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

It was hard for Barry Allen to know which event began to shake him from his sleep first, when one is trying to shake the cobwebs loose from one's own mind and make sense of their surroundings and the fact that they are being brought out of their sleep some time after one in the afternoon, it is often hard for one to keep accurate tack of these kinds of details. Was it the shaking, the panicked yelling from a voice that at first seemed miles away, or was it the bone chilling cold that he felt on his shoulder and soon around his whole body, who could tell? All Barry knew as he slowly sat up in bed and took in the scene before him was that something was causing Caitlin who was beside him in the bed to keep shaking him and there was a look of panic in her face as she told him repeatedly to "Get Out!", that was when he saw the source of her distress, the bed and the room was slowly being covered in a white mist and Caitlin's hair was starting to turn completely white, he looked down at her wrists and saw that Cisco's cuffs were still on them, but they were blinking red, Caitlin must have forgotten to plug them in to recharge before she went to sleep earlier that morning and now they had a problem.

"Barry, Get out I can feel her coming back and she is mad at you, please get out before I hurt you!" Caitlin pleaded while still shaking Barry's shoulder, but there was no way Barry was about to leave her alone with Killer Frost again, now was the time for him to step up and be there for her, he knew she could control this, she was strong, she had been through Zoom kidnapping her and emerged on the other side sane, he knew she could beat Killer Frost.

Barry grabbed Caitlin's cold hands and gripped them firmly in his own and began vibrating so his hands would not freeze. "I am not going anywhere, you can beat this Caitlin, I know you can."

"No, I can't." Caitlin insisted as she turned her eyes away from his. "She is consuming every thought I have, just like she did before, you need to get out before she kills you."

"That isn't going to happen." Barry insisted and then a thought struck him, she said Killer Frost was consuming her thoughts, so what if…?, well it was worth a shot any way. "Just focus on my voice, and think of something else." Barry instructed as he refused to let go of her hands, he refused to let her run away and face this alone, he would never leave her alone to face danger and this time was no different in his mind.

"What should I focus on?" Caitlin begged and she was near to tears and getting colder. Barry was almost panicking himself, but he couldn't let her see that, not at that moment because he wasn't the one she needed to worry about. Suddenly he spotted one thing laying face down on Caitlin's bedside table and it gave him an idea.

"Where did the wedding photo's come from?" Barry asked quickly and this caused Caitlin to turn and look at him with surprise written all over her face.

"What?" She asked, and her skin seemed to be getting warmer, just by a few degrees, but it was getting warmer, this told Barry he was on the right track, distracting her and not letting Killer Frost get a foothold.

"The wedding photos." Barry continued to explain calmly, finally asking a question he had been wondering about for a few days now. "You said we just went out first thing in the morning and got married by a justice of the peace, and we didn't have time to invite anyone, so where did all the wedding photos that you have been boxing up over the past few days, that have us all dressed up and some of them have Iris, Joe, and Cisco in them come from?"

This seemed to cause Caitlin to calm without her realizing it and as she began to explain, not only did her skin become warmer to the touch, but the mist also began to slowly subside. "Well as you can imagine when we went back to work the next day as if nothing had happened but wearing our wedding rings everyone was shocked, Joe gave you the silent treatment, waiting for three days before you broke down and explained things to him, Cisco was just hurt that he hadn't been invited but kept doing his job, though now that I think of it I think he may have been the most angry of them all, and Iris, well Iris is Iris and she flipped out on us for not including family, she broke you down later that very day even though at first you maintained it was none of her business."

"Oh boy, I can just imagine her reaction." Barry said with a grimace and for the moment both Barry and Caitlin seemed to have forgotten the situation they were in and were just focusing on their conversation.

"Yeah, I felt bad for you having to take the main brunt of that, I was just lucky my mother and I still were not on speaking terms at the time, so I didn't have to deal with any of that." Caitlin said with a small smile and then she continued to explain. "So any way she kept bugging you and finally we agreed to a small reception at Joe's house where everyone got dressed up and we had that a week later for our friends and close family, and that is where all the pictures come from." Caitlin finished explaining.

"You know I am sorry you have to go through all this again, but in a way I am glad we are getting a chance to do things over again and do them right this time." Barry said and then he suddenly realized that he had said that out loud and quickly added. "Not that we didn't do them right the first time, I mean I am sure it was good the first time, I am just saying this is better, and I think I am rambling a bit too much."

"Barry, don't worry I am glad too." Caitlin said and now she was the one calming him and she found herself reaching up and planting a gentle kiss on his lips. That was when Barry noticed it as he pulled back.

"Caitlin, your skin, it's back to normal, and the mist is gone!" Barry observed excitedly.

"You're right!" Caitlin agreed and a look of pure shock passed over her face and then she opened her right hand and she could see that the only thing this outbreak, as she started to think of it, had produced was a small cube of ice in her hand that looked something like an uncut diamond.

"Wow." Was all Barry could think to say as he looked down at her hand as he unclasped it.

"Yeah." Caitlin agreed as she looked with amazement at the proof that she could beat Killer Frost.

"I knew you could do it, I knew you could beat her." Barry stated proudly as he looked down at Caitlin.

"Well I couldn't have done it without you." Caitlin stated and somehow knowing he had been of help in such a big way filled Barry with a sense of pride he couldn't shake and he couldn't think of a response, that was when Caitlin spoke again. "Whoa, that kiss made me notice just how much we both need to brush our teeth." Caitlin said with a slightly disgusted look on her face, and Barry took a smell of his own breath and he couldn't help but agree with a nod of his head. "Oh and you could use a shave and a shower." Caitlin continued.

"Yeah" Barry agreed as he felt his face and smelled under his arms as he got up out of the bed. "Ladies first he said pointing at the bathroom and then he became worried as Caitlin got up and got a slightly offended look on her face.

"Barry Allen are you saying I smell bad?!" She asked trying her best to sound offended.

"No.., I mean… well we have been running and sleeping for over 24 hours, and.. well, no you never smell bad, I wasn't saying anything about you, I mean.., maybe if you.. want me to be honest you may smell a bit.." Barry said tripping over every other word and not sure which was to swerve. Caitlin couldn't help it as she began to laugh.

"Relax, I was only kidding." She said. "Just trying to keep you on your toes."

"Oh, kidding, right." Barry said with a relieved sigh. "Right, I knew that." he then stated trying to regain some of his dignity.

"Oh, sure you did. Face it Barry, I have you wrapped around your finger." Caitlin said with a sly smile.

"Maybe that is because there is nowhere I would rather be." Barry teased back and then added. "You take the first shower, I have a call to make."

"Okay." Caitlin agree and then she added. "You know this will be much more fun once we are married."

"Are you trying to kill me here?" Barry asked the empty air as she vanished into the bathroom closing the door behind her and Barry took a moment to collect himself before he picked up the phone and made his call.

Barry was done with his call by the time Caitlin emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered and fully dressed, she had thought of not taking her clothes with her into the shower and just coming out in a towel, but then she decided to have some mercy on poor Barry, she had been teasing him an awful lot lately. Barry then flashed into the bathroom, and emerged a couple of minutes later freshly showered, shaved, changed and with his teeth brushed. Barry then made he way over to Caitlin who was standing in the bedroom doorway, so he could explain the call he made while she was in the shower.

"Okay, so I called Felicity and she said she and Oliver will meet us at S.T.A.R Labs around noon tomorrow to give us some advice on how to get S.T.A.R Labs back on it's feet, that will be step one in fighting back against Adder." Barry explained.

"Okay, but are you sure S.T.A.R Labs will be safe?" Caitlin asked and suddenly she was brought back down to the real world.

"It will be once I sweep the place for bugs and Cisco disconnects the computers in the Cortex from the internet, and then we will keep one of them off line and that is where we will put all of our plans for dealing with Adder." Barry explained and saw that this was suddenly getting heavy and after the day they had had yesterday, that was the last thing he wanted, so he decided to lighten the mood a bit. "Hey we have the day off and there don't seem to be any Meta-Human attacks, so what do you want to do with the rest of the day?" Barry asked with a smile.

"Well I was just hoping to relax and maybe just sit around the house and watch some TV or something." Caitlin said after giving the mater a moment of thought.

"Sounds perfect to me, and then maybe when we get hungry we could go out and get something to eat?" Barry asked.

"That works for me." Caitlin agreed.

"So what do you want to watch? Barry asked.

"Anything you want is good with me." Caitlin said as she plotted down on the living room couch in front of the TV.

"Well in that case I did promise to correct a mistake I made, I think it's time I introduced you to a show every nerd should see. It's time for us to binge watch Babylon 5." Barry announced as he put the first disk in the DvD player, and Caitlin couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as Barry settled in beside her on the couch, for the first time in a long time she felt completely relaxed and things were really looking up, as long as Barry was with her she was sure she could beat Killer Frost, one thing was for sure she wasn't going to let go of what she had at that moment without a huge fight.

 **Okay hope you enjoy this piece of fluff, I felt after the last few chapters it was needed, before diving back into the story. Oh and I didn't notice any of the reviews pointing it out but I don't know if anyone caught it or not, but earlier in the story the account of how Barry and Caitlin got married seemed to contradict it's self, that was on purpose, once I knew that this would be more then a one shot I had that bedroom scene planned out in my head from the word go.**

 **Well I know this was fluff, but I hope you enjoyed it any way.**

 **Oh and thank you for supporting this story, however you choose to do it.**

 **You guys are the best and I will see you next time. :)**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Since he now found himself with out a "real" job that paid "real" money, Barry Allen had woken up late the next morning to find a text from Caitlin waiting for him on his phone along with one from Felicity Smoak. The one from Caitlin simply said that Wally had called her directly, that was a first as far as Barry knew, because he really wanted to test out his new speed, but his older sister would not let him do that outside of S.T.A.R Labs and with out someone with a medical background to monitor him, so Caitlin had been it. After explaining the situation she signed off "Love, Cait", this brought a smile to Barry face, and after the night of teasing she had given him it was kind of a relief to wake up in bed with out her next to him. When they had gone out to dinner the night before, for no reason that Barry could tell Caitlin had worn a way too tight and short dress, it reminded Barry of their first "date", the teasing had not stopped when they got home, and he was beginning to suspect there was something else behind all this teasing besides Caitlin just having fun at his expense or celebrating life now that the threat of Killer Frost seemed to be gone for the moment. That said Barry couldn't for the life of him think of what could have gotten into her or what she wanted from him. Okay, he had an idea what she wanted from him, but he knew if he acted on it he wouldn't still be the man she loved, and call him old fashioned but it went against his own personal morals.

The second text message, the one from Felicity Smoak was simple and yet it did not encourage Barry the way the idea had the night before, now seen in the full light of day the prospect of meeting both her and Oliver Queen, who she informed him were already on their way to a one O'clock meeting with him at S.T.A.R Labs did not seem like that good of an idea. First Barry was sure they both had enough problems of their own after the events of Genesis Day, second it would mean Barry would have to play the stoic leader again, something that came naturally to his old friend but he felt like he was faking every time he did it, and third he had no idea how long Adder had been listening in to their coms, so he would have to break the news to them that Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow's identities may have been compromised. While he was pretty sure Felicity would be able to restrain the Green Arrow from putting another arrow in his back or knee, he still was not looking forward to the disapproving looks or lectures that Oliver was sure to send his way, or breaking the news that he had let another friend who had always believed in him down. One thing was for sure the meeting set for that afternoon was sure not to be a happy one and then there was always the question of which way Adder would jump after being openly attacked by Killer Frost.

With these gloomy thoughts on his mind as he showered, shaved, and ate breakfast, Barry decided that since he had the time he would do what he had always done when he was feeling depressed, frustrated, angry, sad, annoyed, or overwhelmed. He would go for a run through the city to try and clear his mind. Barry went running through the streets of Central City a lot since he was struck by lightening.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Barry ran through the streets of his home city he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, at least for the moment. This was something he knew, in the almost three years since he had become The Flash he had come to know every street with it's every crack and blade of grass, and every confusing turn as if it was an old friend. He knew he could always return here and nothing much would have changed, he knew where the best parts of the city were, and the worst. He was running down the worst, he figured stopping some petty crime was just what he needed to lift his spirits that morning and take his mind off of all of his problems, at least for the moment, and like any old friend his city was happy to provided him with just the distraction he needed.

He heard the sounds of an older male voice calling for help only to be silenced an instant later, the sounds were coming from just around the corner. The Flash picked up speed and raced towards the source of the noise. He found that it was coming from what looked like an old pawn shop, two rather rough looking men in ski masks where pointing pistols at a balding gray haired man behind a counter, The Flash was about to act when he noticed a third person in the gang right behind the men. It looked like it could be a women but it was hard to tell for sure because of her baggy clothes and the hoodie that completely covered her(?) face. At first The Flash wondered if this person was part of the hold up, but then he noticed that he or she was not holding a gun and seemed to have been completely unnoticed by the two hold up men. The matter was settled in The Flash's mind when this person leaped at the larger of the two holdup men and attacked him with brutal martial art skills, The man tried to fight back but the hooded hero seemed to know what he was going to do before he did it and was prepared and dodged each of his attacks with a skill The Flash had never before seen, it was like she was reading his mind, this left no doubt in The Flash's mind, this was the illusive Meta-Human he had been searching the whole city for and hearing whispers about for the past few weeks and it was a she.

She was no speedster, that was something Barry was sure of, but her attacks were quick and brutal, not unlike those of the Green Arrow when he got into hand to hand combat situations and she wore gloves, so clearly someone had taught her how to cover her tracks. She broke both of the first thug's arms in quick order with a couple of rapid and loud snaps, he was down on the floor of the shop screaming in pain. She then turned her attention to the second thug, but not before he fired a shot in the direction of frightened old shop owner. This was when The Flash sprung into action and dashed in front of the old man, he quickly and carefully matched the speed of the bullet exactly and caught it in mid air in his right hand. He then turned his attention to the shop owner who dropped to the floor and coward behind the counter.

"Are you alright?" The Flash asked the old man.

"Y...Yes, I am fine." The man replied and then Barry turned his attention to what was going on in the shop as he leaped over the counter. He then spotted that the second thug that had been taken out as he was tending to the shop owner, this man also laying on the ground screaming in pain right beside his partner. Then to The Flash's surprise the other Meta-Human turned and looked at him, but he still could not make out her face due to the hood that covered it, including her eyes, and then she spoke. Her voice sounded just barely female as if it was being put through the same type of device the Green Arrow used to mask his own voice and she spoke harshly.

"I know you have been looking for me." The Meta said taking a few steps back from The Flash.

"Yeah, I figured we could help each other, nice work by the way. I am not sure I would have broken as many bones, but nice work." Barry said putting on his most disarming smile, this didn't seem to have the affect he was hoping for as the Meta's tone didn't soften at all and she was moving towards the door of the pawn shop.

"My powers are what you think they are and I have been controlling them for well over a year, so I don't need help from you!" The Meta barked hostilely.

"Look I just want to help, and I think you and I both know that we can do a better job helping the people of this city by working as a team." Barry said calmly, he could tell she was scared of something, maybe even him, but he had no idea why.

"I will do better without help from you, and I can stop you from following me, if you force me to." The Meta warned.

"I don't want to force you or anyone to do anything." Barry pleaded.

"Good, well then you will stay away from me." The Meta stated and then she made her way out the door and started running down the street. For a moment Barry considered giving chase, after all this was the closest he had gotten to the Meta who could help him with his Adder problem, but then he had second thoughts. If he did chase her down he would only be confirming her baseless fears that he just wanted to use her for his own selfish ends. This was clearly someone who was very guarded, she would have to be in order to control the powers Barry was now sure he had. Maybe she was abused as a child and that was why she didn't trust people and she always seemed to be so hard to find? Then again Barry noted from they way she had acted she seemed to hold something against him personally, but he couldn't think what that could be, this now left Barry with more questions than answers. Barry ended up just shrugging it off and dashing off into the streets in search of more people in need of help. It seemed he would have to deal with Adder without help from this new Meta, at least until he found a way to prove to her he was no threat.

The Flash was dashing through the streets when his phone beeped and on it was the last thing he wanted to see, it was a terse text message from Adder and it read, " _New Meta in town playing hero, took out two men I protect, deal with it, or our deal is off!"_

This message shook Barry to the core, because now he would have to go up against this well meaning meta, a good person, and she would never trust him. Killer Frost had been right, now Adder was asking The Flash to do his dirty work for him. Barry's only hope now was that that afternoon they would be able to come up with a plan for quickly dealing with Adder or he would have the choice of being exposed or becoming a villain. Exposure meant danger for Caitlin and the rest of his team, but he would not harm anyone for Adder, he was trapped and he needed a way out.

 **Okay sorry this took so long and it was so sort. I ran out of my meds that let me write clearly and I couldn't get back on them for about three weeks, really sorry about that. Also I decided to go with shorter chapters so I can get one out every day, even when I am busy then longer ones.**

 **I know this chapter was just more set up and not every good, but for those who are interested I did have this new Meta planned out and I knew what her back story and purpose in the story was ever since I figured out this story was not just a one or two shot. Feel free to make your own guesses in the reviews until all is revealed.**

 **Oh and I did like the season final, but it is not the ending I have planed for this story, parts will be the same because I called the basic shape of it months ago, but parts will be different because of the changes I am making now.**

 **Did any other Doctor Who fans notice that in the season final Cisco talked about the polarity of the neutron flow being reversed? I really liked that shout out.**

 **Sorry I let you guys down, hope you are still reading.**

 **Thanks for your support and as always you guys are the best.**


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Caitlin sat looking at her computer screen that monitored Wally West's Vital signs as the new speedster sped around the training course in S.T.A.R Labs and she was quiet frankly slightly amazed by what she was seeing. His vital signs all seemed normal and healthy, at least for a speedster and Wally seemed to be able to go just a little bit faster than Barry had just a day after getting his own powers. This seemed to please Cisco who had dubbed Wally a "Wizard of Wiz", and even Joe was smiling with pride, something Caitlin thought the older detective didn't do nearly enough, only Iris West seemed concerned at all as she looked up at the training course and watched the flashes of yellow light going around and around as Wally completed lap after lap in the tube.

"How fast is he going?" Iris asked quietly as a mixture of awe and concern playing across her face.

"He just went passed 500 miles per hour, that is faster then Barry was at this same time." Cisco reported excitedly.

"Already?" Iris replied sounding more worried this time.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Cisco asked sounding somewhat confused as he looked up from his monitor.

"Well yes, it is. I don't want him running head first at Savitar or anyone else dangerous, and that is exactly what he is going to do now that he has super speed, so we need to stop this." Iris explained and she looked more then a little annoyed.

"How?" Joe asked still looking at the streaks of light. "It's not like any of us can catch him to stop him, and I couldn't stop him before he had speed, how do we stop him now that he has it?"

"Just tell him something is wrong and he is not ready." Iris said exasperatedly as she glanced from Cisco to Caitlin.

"Here is the thing, I am not really comfortable lying to one of my friends." Cisco responded nervously.

"I can't lie to him, since I am now his doctor. It would be a breach of ethics." Caitlin explain and she hoped this would be the end of the matter, but of course with her luck it wasn't.

"And turning into a super villain who shoots ice, tries to break up the team, and kill people is ethical?! Look, you are not his sister and shouldn't you be doing what is in his best interests and not just worrying about your job?" Iris demand.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Caitlin asked as she stood up from her work station, she was trying not to let the remark Iris had just made get to her.

"Sure, whatever." Iris said throwing up her hands and she let Caitlin lead her out into the hall just as Wally exited the training course to much praise from his father and Cisco.

"Okay, we are in private, now can you explain why you wouldn't help me protect Wally?" Iris said as leaned back against the wall of the hallway.

"I just don't understand why you think it is a good idea to lie to Wally." Caitlin explained trying to remain calm.

"I would have thought you of all people, Caitlin would understand where I am coming from and why I don't want someone I love in danger." Iris replied pointedly.

"Oh I get that." Caitlin said as she tried to sound understanding while still sticking to her guns. "I am married to Barry, and since the day he woke from that coma my heart has been in my throat every time he goes out there, but you of all people should know that lying to people does more harm than good, and that we can't stop Wally from being who he is any more then we can stop Barry." Caitlin then added a little more forcefully. "Remember how mad you were when you found out Barry and your dad had been keeping secrets from you, and you said they didn't have the right to tell you that you couldn't help, and you don't even have Meta-Human powers, and now you want us to do the exact same thing to Wally that you hated having done to you?"

"Because he is all I have left!" Iris almost yelled out as she ran her hands through her hair. This just got a look of understanding from Caitlin, so Iris began to explain more calmly, as much to herself as to Caitlin. "Look I thought I could handle this, but now when it comes down to it, well my mom left me when I was so young I barely remember her, every day of my life since I was a kid I have had to live with the fear that each time I see my father will be the last, then Barry, who was the closest thing I had to a brother at the time got powers almost three years ago and I have been worrying about him, then I lost Eddie." At this last part a tear slid down Iris' cheek and Caitlin nodded that she understood, they had both shared the same pain the day the vortex opened up, and she waited for Iris to continue. "When Wally came into my life less then a year ago I thought I finally had someone in my life who I didn't have to worry about losing every day, but now he is in the same boat as Barry and my dad and I just have to watch from the sidelines as all three of them throw themselves at danger every day."

"Iris, I'm sorry." Was all Caitlin could mumble as she hugged her friend. "Still you know we can't keep the truth from him, right?"

"Yeah, I know I am being a selfish hypocrite." Iris nearly sobbed. "I mean I put myself in danger, but I just don't think I can take anyone else I love being in danger and I wasn't there as his big sister for his childhood when he needed me and my heart keeps telling me that I will be letting him down if I don't protect him this time. I feel like I am about to lose everything." Iris explained as she pulled away from the hug.

"I know what you mean." Caitlin said as she looked her friend in the eyes. "Still I think we both know the best way to protect Wally is to let him train so he is ready when trouble comes. Because even if I could hide the truth from him he will find it out at some point, just like you did, You Wests have a knack for uncovering the truth."

This brought a smile to Iris' face. "I get it, in my head I get it, it's just that my heart seems to be controlling my actions right now, and I guess I just needed to talk it out."

"So we don't have to lie to Wally?" Caitlin asked cautiously.

"No, I guess not." Iris conceded, but then added more forcefully. "Still I swear if he puts himself in danger or does something stupid I will kill him!"

"Yeah, I have the policy with Barry." Caitlin agreed with a sad smile.

"We have quite the job on our hands, don't we, keeping two idiots who run faster then they can think from getting hurt?" Iris said with a smile as she and Caitlin made their way back into the training room.

"That we do." Caitlin agreed and then added. "But I learned a while ago that they wouldn't be the same people we cared about if we didn't have to keep them safe, and you are never just on the sidelines, I have seen you help solve problems, so you do contribute to the team."

"Thanks. Iris said gratefully. "Not just for that but for talking me out of making a really stupid choice, it could have hurt my relationship with Wally, and so you stopped me from making a really big mistake. Also thanks for putting up with my lashing out at you, I had no right to do that. Thank you for being my friend."

"Any time, that's what friends and family are for." Caitlin replied and then she watched as Iris cleared the tears from her eyes and made her way other to hug and congratulate her brother, even if the smile was forced it was a step in the right direction, things were looking up at long last, there was only one thing really missing to make things perfect and Caitlin hoped Barry would take the hint and not let the fear of Blake Adder or Savitar put him off taking the last step towards putting their live back on the same happy track she wanted them on so badly at the moment.

That was when Barry's voice broke in over the intercom, he sounded a little nervous, public speak had never and most likely would never be one of his best skills. "Could I please have the attention of everyone here at S.T.A.R Labs." Barry said with a cough and then there was some feedback on the intercom before he continued. "Sorry about that, but could you all meet me in the Cortex, our guests are here and we kind of need everyone here for a meeting."

"Wow, the morning just flew by." Caitlin remarked as she looked down at her watch and saw that it was ten minutes before one o'clock. She then looked up and saw that everyone except herself and Cisco had made their way out of the training room and towards the Cortex, so without saying a word she and Cisco quickly walked together to catch up with everyone else and meet their guests. This was going to be a very interesting meeting indeed and Caitlin could see the same hope that she had reflected in Cisco's eyes, the hope that this would spell the end of their Adder problem and they could move on to bigger problems and maybe even get on with their normal lives, or what passed for normal lives for the close nit team working out of S.T.A.R Labs. One thing was for sure, a lot was riding on the next hour or so.

 **Okay, there is chapter 23, sorry it took so long to get up, but I have a bad cold and a woke up really late and spent most of the day asleep. I know I have the worst luck.**

 **Still I hoped you liked it. In the show Iris' lying to Wally and the way she treated him never made any sense to me given how she acted in season one and continues to act in the rest of the show, so I tried to make some sense out of them with this chapter with out breaking the character. Let me know if you think I did a good job, okay?**

 **Oh and if the next chapter is a day late it will only be because it is longer and I want to get Oliver and Felicity completely right. Still I will do my best to get it posted some time tomorrow, I hope you enjoy it.**

 **As always thanks for your support and you guys are the best.**

 **Oh and P.S I know I am not a good writer at all, but I don't have anyone in real life who can edit my chapters for me or give them a fourth or fifth look before I post them, so my stories are what they are, sorry. If anyone would be interested in betaing for me so a fresh set of eyes would look at each chapter PM me and we will see what we can set up. Thank you for your understanding.**


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Caitlin and Cisco were the last of the group to make their way to The Cortex, and Caitlin had just spotted her friend Felicity Smoak sitting in one on the swivel chairs that faced the desk full of computers, she was about to greet her old friend and enter the room when she felt a hand take a tight grip on her elbow and pull her back around the corner of the hallway and she turned to see Cisco with a hurt and somewhat angry look on his face.

"What is he doing here?" Cisco demanded.

"What is who doing here?" A confused Caitlin responded, answering Cisco's question with one of her own.

"You know who I mean, Oliver Queen." Cisco responded and he sounded like he didn't believe Caitlin when she said she had no idea who he was talking about, and he looked even more hurt.

"Because Barry invited him…?" Caitlin replied as she tilted her head in confusion.

"I knew it!" Cisco yelled as he threw his hands up in the air and turned around and began pacing back and forth across the hall. "Barry and I have one fight and all of the sudden that changes everything." He then turned to face Caitlin again. "Tell me who is always building him new tech, Who built the suite he uses and always cleans it up no questions asked, who went to another earth with him, and who has always been there for him even when things were at their worst, like when you kicked him out?"

"You were." Caitlin answered still unsure where this sudden outburst of anger and frustration was coming from.

"Exactly." Cisco stated as if he had just proven a point of some kind. "Yet the first time we have a real fight and he goes out and gets Oliver Queen to take over my job?! I mean I know he and Oliver are good friends but I was here first and no one should be taking my place, it's just wrong, I'm his best friend, or at least I thought I was." Cisco finished looking hurt.

"I really don't think Oliver Queen has any interest in taking over your job here, Do you Cisco? Barry hasn't said anything to me about it." Caitlin said trying to calm her friend down and still really confused as to how he had jumped to that conclusion.

"Not my job here." Cisco explained sounding more frustrated. "I know you two have been talking about doing a real wedding and now because we had a fight Oliver Queen is getting my job as best man, that is just wrong!"

"What?" Caitlin exclaimed shocked and it took all of her self control to stop herself from laughing.

"That is what he is here for right, you two are getting married soon, so that is why you invited everyone here." Cisco stated and he suddenly seemed very unsure of himself.

"No." Caitlin stated firmly.

"No?" Cisco asked now looking more then a little embarrassed.

"No, he is here because Barry and I need some advice on how to turn S.T.A.R Labs into a business that makes enough money to support its self and us if we are going to get married and fight off Adder." Caitlin explained and this time she couldn't stop a little laugh from leaving her mouth.

"That's it?" Cisco asked as he looked down at the floor and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"That is it." Caitlin stated firmly and then explained. "Look Cisco I don't know when Barry and I are having the wedding and I have no control over who he picks as his best man, but I am pretty sure it will be you. Now can we go in there before someone comes out looking for us?"

"Yeah, let's go." Cisco said without looking up at Caitlin and he walked past her into the Cortex, he clearly wanted to pretend none of this had happened and Caitlin couldn't help the smile that broke out across her face. Cisco had clearly been shocked into getting over his anger at Barry, and to her that was a good thing.

As everyone gathered together in The Cortex Barry Allen and Oliver Queen stood in front of everyone in the big open area. Oliver was facing the door and watching everyone enter, without showing any emotion on his face, as he normally did, he then turned and spoke to Barry.

"Barry, can I have a word with you?"

"Sure." Barry replied as Oliver turned his back to the crowd and led them to a corner of the room, when Oliver finally spoke it was in a whisper but there was no mistaking the annoyance in his tone of voice.

"Barry I shouldn't have to say this, but there isn't much point to my having a secret identity if you keep telling more and more strangers who I am and that you work with The Green Arrow."

"Hey, I didn't tell them that, I'm not stupid." Barry objected, Oliver shot him a look and then Barry continued nervously. "But a rich tech giant named Blake Adder may secretly be a crime boss, and he may have hacked our computers and coms and we don't know how long he has been doing it, so he may know."

"What?!" Felicity gasped out in surprise, she had somehow managed to sneak up on the both of them and insert herself into the conversation between the two men. "How come everyone I nearly worked for, and half the people I worked for always turn out to be a super villain of some kind?!" She groaned.

"So you are saying that someone out there with the ties Adder has, could know that I am the Green Arrow." Oliver demanded now sounding a little angry.

"Hey, I am sure it wasn't his fault and he called us here as soon as he found out." Felicity stated trying to calm Oliver down she then turned to Barry and looked at him questioningly. "You did do that, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Barry said and he didn't like the way things were doing, he felt like a kid who was scolded for doing something bad. "I didn't want to talk about it over the phone in case he has those bugged."

"Okay." Oliver said taking a calming breath and then he added. "So do you really need our business advice?"

"Yes, it's part of our plan to fight Adder, we need S.T.A.R Labs up and running again." Barry explained and he was glad Oliver seemed to be calming down, or at least he was projecting calm to hide his rage.

"I feel like I should point out that while Oliver and I have both been chief executive officers of companies before, it didn't turn out too great in either of our cases, so maybe we are not the best people to give you advice here." Felicity piped in and this earned her a somewhat panicked look from Barry and a disapproving look from Oliver. "Okay, I will try to only think positive thoughts from now on, yep that is me, Ms. Positive, I'll just be positive." Felicity rambled in response.

"She is right, I am not sure how much help we can be to you with that." Oliver stated as he turned to Barry.

"Look all I need you to do is give us some guidelines and speak up if anyone says something really stupid, because at least you two have run a business before, that is more then anyone here knows how to do." Barry now almost pleaded.

"Okay." Oliver replied and then returned to his original point. "Still that doesn't answer my question, what have you told all these people about me?" Oliver asked as he motioned to indicate all the people who had gathered in The Cortex.

"Look all I told them is that I once worked a case as a C.S.I at your company and that you two are friends of mine. All they know is that you are Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, nothing else." Barry explained.

"Alright." Oliver replied relenting a little. "Then I guess we should get started." He said and then he turned to face all the people in the room with Barry doing the same thing.

"Okay, everyone can I have your attention, please?" Barry called out and he was trying his best to sound like a leader, but with Oliver standing right beside him, he didn't feel much like one, still he did manage to get everyone's attention so he continued. "Okay we need to find a way to get S.T.A.R Labs up and running so it is making money, that is why we are all here and that is why I have invited Oliver and Felicity, because they have both run companies before, so I asked for their advice. So I guess if you have an idea just throw it out there and they will tell us if it has a chance of working."

"Okay, well I don't think you want a lot of people running around this place, too many secrets, so unless you plan on locking up everyone you employ at the end of each work day, this will have to be small in scale so you can limit their access to certain rooms, and that means updating your security system." Barry was surprised to see that Joe was the first one to speak up, but he had to admit that while what he said clearly came from the security concerns a cop would have, he did make a good point.

"Right, so we need something small scale, but that will bring in a big profits." Barry stated as he rolled the thought over in his head.

"That most likely mean you can't manufacture or ship it from here." Oliver pointed out.

"Yeah, you will want a product of some kind that you can put a patent on and then you can license it to other companies to make and sell and then you just take a cut of the profits." Felicity agreed.

"Do we have anything that we could do that with right now?" Wally asked, as a new comer to the group he was clearly unsure if he was saying something stupid, but he spoke up any way.

"I can't think of anything." Cisco stated gloomily.

"Question." H.R injected as he banged his two drumsticks together. "How do you monitor all of B.A's vitals as he is running around the city?"

"Well there are a bunch of tiny sensors I built into his suit that transmit the data back here to S.T.A.R Labs." Cisco explained.

"Yes, and they fit into the fabric of his suit and monitor everything from his blood pressure, to broken bones, to his body temperature, isn't that right?" H.R asked.

"That is right, it's how I can be ready to treat Barry and know exactly what is wrong with him by the time he gets here when he is hurt." Caitlin injected excitedly as she for once was the one to finish H.R's thought.

"No one else in the world has tech like that and if it was built into people's clothes and the data transmitted to a hospital or doctor's office it could save thousands of lives." Felicity stated as she walked towards the chair that Caitlin was sitting in.

"That is right, I mean if a doctor could see the first signs of a heart attack in one of his or her patients before they felt it and have them into the hospital more quickly, that would save lives, not to mention victims of strokes, and hospitals wouldn't have to wait so long for test results." Caitlin continued to infuse.

"Why didn't I see this before?!" Cisco said as he slapped his forehead with his hand.

"Because you didn't have the genius here before." H.R stated.

"All I have to do is fine tune the software so that it can transmit the signal from the sensors to cellphone towers instead of the S.T.A.R Labs satellite so it can be used anywhere in the world and we have a patent that we can file in just a few days that should bring in dump trucks full of money." Cisco said excitedly as he began typing on his computer.

"Well that sounds like a marketable product to me that will restore the reputation of S.T.A.R Labs." Felicity said with a smile as she turned to face Barry. "I think you are in business."

"That is all good and it makes it harder for Adder to openly attack S.T.A.R Labs and it gives you money to fight back against him, but what do you do if he still decides to blow Barry's cover?" Oliver asked somberly and this brought the mood of the room down.

"Well you were able to handle it when the police accused you of being the Arrow because he later turned up in public while you were at a very public party." Felicity stated carefully and trying not to give anything away while still making her point.

"So you are saying all we have to do is arrange for Barry to be seen in public at the same time as The Flash?" Iris asked.

"I don't think it will be that simple for you." Oliver said. "It worked for me because I am not The Arrow, but with Barry you have to have someone with super speed posing as The Flash, and he has to be in the same room as Barry since everyone knows the The Flash is fast enough that he can make it seem like he is in two places at once."

"The grand opening of the museum." H.R said excitedly as he was finishing off a cup of coffee. "Think of it, we announce that the proceeds from opening night will go to charity and that The Flash will be there, people and the media will show up in droves, and then we have Barry working out there and there will be tons of witnesses along with photos and videos to prove Barry isn't The Flash, and if Adder goes through with his thread it will just make him a public laughing stock and people will assume the documents he is using to back up his claims are fakes."

"Okay, but who do you get to play the part of The Flash? It has to be someone with super speed." Oliver asked, and he clearly still was not buying this as an answer to their problems.

Interrupting the conversation was the sound of a phone ringing, it was Joe's, he pulled it out of his pocket and had a quick conversation at the end of which he looked a little upset. "I have to go into work." Joe explained and Barry and Iris were on their way other to him when he stopped them. "You guys need to keep working on this problem." It was clear something was wrong.

"Are you okay, dad?" Iris asked and she looked very concerned.

"Yeah, I am fine." Joe bluffed not too convincingly. "Look it's just something has come up at work and I have to go in, but you guys need to fix this Adder problem, okay?"

"Okay." Barry and Iris both answered with a sigh and then watched helplessly as Joe left the room and they turned around and tried to focus on the problem at hand.

"Hey, I have super speed!" Wally piped up excitedly and it was clear he was trying to keep himself from thinking about what could be going on with his father as well.

"No offense Wally, but the Flash has been photographed a lot and I think people would notice if you pretended to be him, I mean everyone knows The Flash is white." Caitlin pointed out and she hated shooting him down like that because she knew he was just trying to help.

"Yeah, right, I was forgetting that." Wally conceded as his shoulders sank.

"So that plan will not work, we need a new one." Oliver stated.

"Wait a minute I don't think so." Barry said a second later after giving the matter some thought. "Cisco anywhere on any of our computers does it talk about the breach down in the basement as a portal between worlds?" Barry asked.

"No." Cisco answered as he stood up from his chair and looked over at Barry. "I just listed it as an unknown and unstable phenomenon left over from the vortex and the official story is that Zoom and his army of darkness were just a group of evil Meta-Humans, neither the government or the press ever said anything about them coming from another dimension."

"So in other words there is no way Adder could know about the multi-verse, or Earth 2." Barry stated excitedly.

"Wait, Barry are you thinking of doing what I think you are thinking of doing?" Caitlin asked and it was like she was reading his mind, Barry smiled as he replied.

"Yeah, I am thinking I be The Flash on opening night and I go and get the Barry Allen from Earth 2 and he pretends to be me here, it's perfect!" Barry infused.

"Wait isn't that the weird earth where you and I are married?" Iris asked with a strange look on her face and being reminded of this clearly didn't make Barry or Caitlin comfortable.

"Yeah, it is." Barry replied with a shudder and this seemed to please Caitlin, he then added. "But I don't think you and I grew up as brother and sister there, Joe didn't seem to like me enough for that to have happened."

"But will that Barry even want to help you and come all the way to another earth? He sounded like he was kind of a wuss." Iris asked concerned now.

"He is also the reason I am still here, and once I explain to him how I saved his Earth I am sure he will want to help." Barry stated confidently.

"Well then it sounds like the sooner I have the museum ready to open, the better." H.R said and he didn't wait for a response, he just jogged out of the room, seemingly to get back to work on his pet project.

"I think I will go help H.R, maybe my super speed can be useful there." Wally stated as he left the room too.

"Since we seem to have everything under control here I am going to go and try to find out what is up with my dad." Iris stated and she too turned and walked quickly out of the room leaving just Barry, Caitlin, Cisco, Oliver, and Felicity in the Cortex.

Barry then turned to Oliver with a grave look on his face. "Hey Oliver now that it is just us I can ask you something."

"Sure, what?" Oliver responded and he didn't like the look on Barry's face.

"Well is any of your equipment missing, like say one of your voice modulators?" Barry asked carefully.

"No, why would you ask that?" Oliver replied looking a little puzzled.

"And you haven't been training anyone who left your team lately?" Barry asked.

"No, what is this all about Barry?" Felicity demanded as she stepped in.

"Because I have been tracking a Meta and she seems to be using one of your voice modulators, and well when I ran into her today the way she fought reminded me of you." Barry stated still looking at Oliver.

"Wait, you ran into a Meta and didn't call us so we could help you, and you didn't even tell me?!" Caitlin said shocked as she punched Barry in the left shoulder.

"It's okay, she seems to be on the same side of the law as we are, but she seems to hate me for some reason."

"Why?" Caitlin asked with growing concern that Barry was in way over his head.

"She didn't say." Barry stated and then he turned to Cisco. "Hey can you bring up the footage from that security tape I swiped from the pawn shop earlier today?"

"Can do." Cisco responded and a moment later they were all looking at the monitors as they showed black and white footage of the Meta and her fight with the armed thugs and Oliver looked a little worried by what he saw.

"That looks like League of Assassins training." He stated grimly. "I have never heard of them working with Meta's before, but if you combine their training with a Meta's powers. Barry you need to be very careful if you run into her again, and don't take anything she says at face value!" Oliver warned.

"Don't worry, I will be careful." Barry added and he looked at Caitlin as he said this, who was biting her lip and looking very nervous.

"What are this Meta's powers again?" Felicity asked somberly.

"She said they were exactly what I thought they were before I said anything and she seemed to know what those guys and I were going to do, before we did it. So I think she is psychic." Barry stated.

"League of Assassins' training and psychic powers, that is a combo I would not want to go up against." Cisco said quietly as he took in a nervous breath.

"The worst part is Adder wants me to stop her from fighting crime by the end of today." Barry then revealed to the shock of everyone.

"Barry, you can't do that." Caitlin stated in a small voice.

"She is right, you are a beacon of hope in this city, you can't let Adder twist that to his own ends or the people of this city will start to lose hope themselves." Oliver agreed.

"I know." Barry replied, trying to sound calm. "I just have to find her and convince her to work with me until we can take down Adder."

"Well maybe that will not be so hard if she is psychic." Caitlin said hopefully.

"You didn't hear the way she talked to me, she really seemed to hate me for some reason." Barry said and his voice was filled with shame as if this was a failing on his own part somehow.

"Well you haven't done anything to her, so it's not your fault." Caitlin stated firmly.

"Yeah, try telling her that." Barry said and then they were interrupted by a sound from his cellphone. Barry pulled it out of his pocket and read a text message and his face sunk. "It looks like she is causing trouble for Adder again, he just text me an address and told me to deal with her."

"Barry, what are you going to do?" Caitlin asked as her voice went up with worry.

"I am just going to talk to her." Barry stated and he flashed into his suite and out of the room and building leaving Caitlin to just tell the air to "Be careful." in a small broken voice.  
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When The Flash got to the address Adder had text to him he found it was a club that the insides of which where as dark as night without the lights on, despite it being the middle of the day. He guessed it must have been some kind of hang out for gang land figures, judging by the number of disarmed men laying on the ground, crying out in pain beside guns that had been taken apart.

"I know why you are here." A modulated voice called out from the darkness. "I will never work with you Flash!"

"Hey, I just want to talk." The Flash said as he held up his hands and tried to sound friendly.

"I don't!" The voice said forcefully. "I know what you are going to ask next and you can call me Psi."

"Look I just need you to.." The Flash started and then was interrupted by the voice.

"Yes, I know, work with you to take down Adder." The voice said sounding more angry. "Well I hate to break it to you but I have bigger fish to fry then Adder and I can't let you stop me from doing what I am doing." Barry was now bracing himself for a fight as it didn't sound like Psi was going to listen to him at all.

"Stop reading my mind!" The Flash yelled into the shadows as he raced around trying to locate the voice.

"Fine." Psi said as she stepped out of the darkness and into the middle of the room. "My reasons for not working with you have nothing to do with Adder, I know you are just trying to buy time."

"Then why are you so against working with me?" The Flash demanded.

"My reasons are my own." Psi replied and there was a hint of hurt in her voice and The Flash knew that tone, he was bringing back memories she would rather forget, he knew the feeling all too well himself.

"Look I don't know how I hurt you, but I promise I will make it right." The Flash stated firmly but calmly as he walked toward Psi.

"Nothing you can do will ever make things right for me!" An enraged Psi bellowed as she caught The Flash off guard with a powerful punch to the face that sent him to the floor with what felt like a broken nose. The fight was on and there was nothing The Flash could do to stop it.

 **Okay I know I sound like a broken record at this point but sorry for the delay. I forgot about something my family was doing last week and it left me not able to write, sorry about that. Hopefully you had some fun reading this chapter and it help make up for the delay.**

 **Let me know what you think and where the story is going in your reviews or PMs if you like, I love hearing from you guys.**

 **You guys are the best and the next chapter is coming tomorrow and the chapters will start being longer again to, so you have that to look forward to. My goal is to have this story finished by the time the new season starts, but don't worry I will not rush it and everything is still preceding at the pace I have always had mapped out in my head. Sorry about last week.**

 **Thanks for supporting the story, by following, favoriting, or reviewing. You guys are the best. :)**

 **See you tomorrow! :)**

 **PS Some times I really can't stand the censorship on this site, it keeps censoring CEO as if it is a dirty word, so I had to write it out in long hand as chief executive officer even though no one says it like that in real life while speaking. Okay rant over, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

The Flash picked himself up off of the floor and he winced as he tasted the blood that was coming out of his nose, but he tried to ignore the pain and focus on avoiding the incoming attacks from Psi. This The Flash managed to do a couple of times thanks to his super speed, but then it was like she knew where he was going to run to and what he was going to do, and not even his super speed could protect him from that. Psi landed two more punches to the ribs, and a powerful kick to the chest that caused The Flash to double over and fall down on to his hands and knees. He then felt Psi grab his right arm and twist it backwards, putting pressure on it as if she was about to break it when suddenly there was an explosion and the two of them were knocked sideways onto their backs. By the time The Flash began to stand up he saw two spent exploding arrows stuck in the floor off to his right and he looked to his left and saw the approaching form of The Green Arrow.

"That's enough!" The Green Arrow yelled. In response to this The Flash was expecting Psi to attack The Green Arrow, but instead she surprised him by jumping to her feet but then bowing her head for a second as if she was feeling ashamed of herself before looking up at The Green Arrow. "You two need to work together, I don't know what is going on here but killing The Flash will not solve anything, I will not let you do it, is that understood?" The Green Arrow demanded in a commanding tone as he walked over and helped The Flash to his feet.

"Yes, that is understood." Psi said and The Flash heard her voice for the first time with out a modulator, he was surprised that she sounded older than both himself and The Green Arrow, but there was no argument in her tone of voice, just acceptance of the order she was given. This puzzled The Flash, if she wasn't part of The Green Arrow's team why did she seem to respect him so much? Maybe she had read his mind and saw his past? Still her body language lead The Flash to suspect there was more to it than just that, so he chalked it up to just being one more mystery about this Meta he would have to uncover.

"Good, now you head to S.T.A.R Labs so that you can start working with them on a plan, and then you never have to see the Flash again." The Green Arrow ordered, not letting his commanding tone of voice slip for an instant.

"Fine" Psi replied and this time she sounded just a little upset but like she was at least trying to control herself, she then turned and stormed out of the club.

"Wow, how did you know that would work?" The Flash asked in awe turning to face his friend.

"I didn't, I am just as shocked as you are that it worked." The Green Arrow said and he sounded just as surprised and puzzled as The Flash as to what had just happened. He then added. "I am going to head back to Star City, there is a lot to deal with there, but if she gives you trouble again just call."

"Okay, thanks." The Flash said gratefully and then he flashed out of the club and back to S.T.A.R Labs.  
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"Are you really going to trust her and let the person who did all this to you into S.T.A.R Labs?" An Angry Caitlin demanded as she finished patching up Barry in the medbay at S.T.A.R Labs.

"I don't think I have any choice." Barry protested and his voice had taken on a strange high pitched whistle due to his bandaged and broken nose, it would heal in a few hours, but at that moment he was stuck with a funny sounding voice. "It was either that or kill her." Caitlin shot him a look that seemed to say that after seeing all the broken bones she had bandaged she wasn't so sure that was such a bad idea. "I am not going to kill her!" Barry insisted.

"Yeah, well just make sure she knows to stay clear of me, or I may do it myself." Caitlin grumbled, if there was one thing that she loved and hated about Barry it was that he was so forgiving, she knew that was part of who he was, but it also sometimes led to him walking face first into danger, and that she hated.

"This is so exciting, we are going to have a real live Psychic on the team, You know if she hadn't already named herself I could have come up with something way better then Psi." Cisco infused and he was practically hoping up and down with excitement. Barry just shook his head as he left the medbay with Caitlin following close behind.

"Did you not see what she did to Barry?" Caitlin demanded.

"Plus she may be a member of The league of assassins, so you two should be really careful around her." Barry stated.

"I thought you were the one who said we had no choice and we had to work with her." Cisco pointed out.

"I am but I still want you and Caitlin to be careful, you haven't been on the receiving end of ass kicking from her." Barry explained as he slowly sat down in "Wells'" old wheelchair because Caitlin had ordered him off of his feet for the next few hours while his ribs healed. "In fact Caitlin, I don't think you should even be here when she show up, maybe you should go home." Barry said with a worried look on his face as he turned and looked at Caitlin, before Caitlin could object a new voice and person entered The Cortex.

"What good would that do, I already know about her and where you live. You can relax, Oliver ordered me to work with you, so that is what I am going to do, you should know I don't harm innocents, and even if I did you have my word none of you are in any danger from me." The voice stated firmly but without betraying any emotion and for the first time Barry along with the rest got a look at Psi as she had her hood down.

Psi was exactly one inch shorter then Barry, her blond hair was cut short so it framed her small face, and her green eyes seemed to be constantly on guard for a threat. If Barry had to guess he would say the women was in her late 30s, so she was by far the oldest member of the team. She looked like she had seen some bad times as her skin, what he could see of it, was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, she seemed to be patrolling the room while keeping a careful eye on Barry, so she still didn't trust him, that was good to know.

"To answer your first question Cisco the number you are thinking of between one and ten is in fact eleven, you were trying to throw me off to find out if I really am psychic." Psi said this left Cisco with his mouth hanging open.

"That is so cool!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Maybe to you." Caitlin said looking over at Cisco as she was careful to keep herself between Psi and Barry, she then turned to her attention to Psi. "You had better stay out of my head." Caitlin said forcefully.

"Fine, nothing in there I want right now any way." Psi replied with a huff and she seemed to be just barely keeping her anger in check as she looked over at Barry and kept a careful eye on him.

"Okay, how about we have a rule, you don't read anyone on this team's mind as long as you are working with us?" Barry stated as he place his left hand in Caitlin's right to try and calm her, and she grabbed on but didn't seem to be letting her guard down at all.

"I don't want to spend any more time in that rat's maze of yours any way, so as long as Cisco doesn't try to vibe me, which will not work because the gloves stay on, then that is fine with me." Psi said rather harshly and this did nothing to calm Caitlin down.

"Who are you to judge us, and what do you have against Barry?" Caitlin demanded.

"My problems with your husband are none of your business, I am here because I have to be, that is all, so everyone, even Barry Alan is safe from me." Psi replied not letting her guard down for a moment.

"Yeah, about that, why do you seem to have so much respect for Oliver?" Barry asked as he wheeled his chair around Caitlin so he could face Psi.

"You respect him." Psi answered coldly.

"But you don't like me." Barry pointed out.

"My reasons for being careful around you have nothing to do with Oliver, so I respect him and will do as he says." Psi replied just as coldly as before.

"Are you former League of assassins?" Barry asked trying to learn something about the older women.

"My past is none of your business." She stated and answering questions from Barry seemed to be making her more and more guarded and Barry didn't want that, even with his brief encounters with her he could tell she was someone who had lost something important to her and had never gotten over it, he wanted to help her, and what was more he wanted her to feel safe at S.T.A.R Labs, so he tried a different approach. "Well you are a member of my team, you don't have anything to fear from me."

"We will have to see about that." Psi said taking a step back.

"Are you mad at me because I time traveled? Because if you had read all my memories you would know that I tried to fix it, but I can't." Barry stated gently, trying to win her trust.

"That is part of the reason, but not the full reason." Psi said and this time her voice went down to just above a whisper and she looked at the floor, she was clearly holding some pain deep inside herself that she couldn't let go of. Caitlin even noticed this and for the first time she felt sorry for the women standing in front of her, she still didn't trust anyone who had hurt Barry but she did feel compassion for her.

"Is there something we can call you besides Psi?" Caitlin asked gently.

"I'm sorry, but no." Psi replied bluntly as she looked up and was clearly trying to regain control of her emotions and for some reason she seemed to let her guard down just a little when Caitlin was the only one who she was looking at. "The less you know about me and my past the safer you all will be."

"Who are you running from?" Caitlin asked deciding to use the connection she didn't understand but Psi seemed to feel to get information.

"It's better if you don't know, it will keep all of you safer and you can't tell him what you don't know about me." Psi said as she turned around. Psi then walked over to the desk and scribbled something on a piece of paper. "That is my cellphone number, let me know when you need me, until then you have my word I will not make trouble for Adder, I have to...I need to go." She said and she sounded broken as she pulled her hood up and slowly left The Cortex, her shoulders were hunched over as she did so as if there was a great weight on them.

"Well that was nothing like I expected." Cisco said as he sat down and began to work on his computer.

"Yeah, I don't know what she has been through to make her like that, but it must have been bad." Barry said as he looked at the last place she had stood.

"Do you think she read your mind for the codes and that is how she got in here?" Cisco asked, clearly he didn't like thinking about what tragic secrets Psi's past could contain any more then Barry did.

"She must have." Barry answered.

"You know I still don't like her but I want to help her." Caitlin said as she looked down at Barry, and he was relieved to see the Caitlin he loved in her eyes and not just the women who had been angry that he had been hurt.

"I do too." He agreed. "Still I know that pain and it may take a long time to help her, I know for the first year after my mom died I hated Joe."

"Whatever happened I don't think it was her fault." Caitlin observed.

"Yeah, and what worries me is that I may have had a hand in it." Barry said looking guilty.

"Well even if you did you didn't mean to and you are trying to help her now, that is all that matters." Caitlin stated as she bent down and hugged Barry.

"I know you are right, but it doesn't make me feel any better about all of this." Barry replied.

"Yeah, but what matters is helping her now, we can't change the past, no matter how much we may want to." Caitlin said as she pulled away from the hug and then added thoughtfully. "I wonder why she seemed to trust me so much?"

"I guess that is one more mystery we are going to have to learn the answer to." Barry said, and then he added. "Still right now we need to keep our eye on the ball and handle Adder, he can't be allowed to run lose, maybe if we stop him Psi will finally trust us enough to open up a little."

"Yeah, I am going to go work with Cisco on his redesign of the sensors." Caitlin agreed as she made her way over and took her seat at the desk and a moment later she was chatting with Cisco, that was when Barry's phone rang, he picked it up and answered.

"Iris calm down and explain what happened." Barry instructed and Caitlin could see that there was a sudden look of alarm on his face. "Okay, we will deal with this, there is no way Joe is going down for this, he will be okay. Okay Iris I will get back to you in a few minutes, just remember we need to be strong for him, bye." Barry hung up his phone.

"What's wrong with Joe?" Caitlin asked, alarmed.

"Joe has been suspended and is being investigated by Internal Affairs." Barry stated as his face went pale.

"What?!" Cisco said shocked as he shot up out of his chair. "On what charge?"

"Brutality against a suspect in police custody, it seems they have him on tape hurting that follower of Alchemy's that they caught, now he is walking and it looks like Joe is in big trouble." Barry answered and a deafening silence fell over the room.

 **Well sorry this chapter was so short and so little got done in it, I hope you liked it and you are at least interested in the character of Psi, because there is going to be more of her in this story. I would love your feedback on this character because I created her and I would like to know what is and is not working with her for you. Oh and Psi has been a part of the plan for this story since it became more then a two shot and she is an important part. I will not give anything away about her but all will be revealed about her before the story is finished, but clues will be carefully dropped as well so you can make your own guess, that is part of the fun of writing this story for me and what keeps me interested. Not just doing rewrites of episodes with a few changes but adding my own changes and characters to it now and then, don't worry you will still get your favorite moments from the season and I am doing a new chapter every day so you can get past the story I came up with quicker if you hate it. If I get enough negative feedback I will cut out all of my garbage and just focus on cannon if that is what most readers want.**

 **Oh and about the musical episode, I will not be doing it as a musical, sorry but it just doesn't translate into print for me. Other much better writers can make it work but with my lack of talent, I just can't make writing out lyrics work on the written page, sorry if this is a let down or a deal breaker for you. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Sorry if you find it to be a mess and don't like it.**

 **Thanks again all of your feedback is one of the things that keeps me writing, you guys are the best.**


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"How are you doing, Wally? I assume Iris called you too." Barry asked as he stepped in the training room where Wally West was just sitting slumped over in one of the chairs.

"What happened to you?" Wally asked as he looked at Barry's bandaged and bruised body.

"I got beat up by a girl." Barry said with a smile. "Just don't tell Caitlin I am out of my wheelchair before my leg is fully healed or she really will kill me."

"Your secret is safe with me." Wally said and returned to looking at the floor.

"Wally..." Barry started but he was then interrupted by Wally.

"Please don't repeat the same old speech about this not being my fault." Wally said with an edge to his voice. "We both know that is not true. If I had listened to you and dad, who were both yelling at me not to touch that stone, dad wouldn't have been scared and he wouldn't have beaten up that guy. I wanted speed so badly I didn't stop to think about anyone else, I was willing to die trying to get it and now my dad is paying the price, so this is my fault!"

"Okay, I am not going to tell you it is not your fault." Barry said with a sigh. "This life doesn't have a rule book and things are happening that none of us understand and people like us carry a huge responsibility and when we make a mistake, we are not the only ones who pay the price. It's something we have to learn how to live with, because we will screw up."

"How do you live with something like this?" Wally asked and he sounded a little angry, most likely at himself, Wally was like Barry in that way.

"By moving forward and doing the best you can to fix things, at least that is the only solution I have found." Barry stated honestly and then added. "I will say this is not all your fault, if I had not created Flashpoint none of this would be happening to you. So in a way it's both of our faults, we both let Joe down."

"But Barry you didn't know what was going to happen, I am the one who made a bad choice." Wally objected.

"You didn't know what would happen when you touched that stone either, none of us did. Still I should have known better, I told the Speedforce I was able to move forward after knowing the pain of loss, but it turns out that was a lie and everyone here is paying a price including you. I'm sorry." Barry said sadly.

"Yeah well if that guy had not gotten some high priced defense lawyer who is using this to get him out of jail, maybe this wouldn't be happening." Wally said bitterly as he stood up.

"Wait, what did you say?" Barry asked, puzzled.

"I talked to my dad and he said that guy he beat up got the most expensive defense lawyer in the city and he was the one who pushed for the police to suspend him." Wally answered with a hint of anger in his voice.

"I was outside that guy's house, and he didn't look like he could afford someone like that." Barry stated thoughtfully.

"Well someone decided to pay for the lawyer because this James Olson character is defending him." Wally stated with a shrug.

"I think I know who is paying." Barry said as his face became red with anger and then he flashed out of the room, into his suit, and then out of the building.

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The Flash found Blake Adder alone in his bedroom reading with his hand and torso patched up with bandages where he had gotten frostbite when Killer Frost had attacked him the other day, that didn't stop The Flash from grabbing the man and slamming him against the nearest wall.

"You paid a high priced criminal defense lawyer to go after Joe West, when I did everything you asked, why?" The Flash demanded through clenched teeth.

"Because you didn't do everything I asked, I told you to deal with a problem and instead you refused to fight, your big green friend had to come in and save you and put an end to the trouble that Meta was making, I saw the security footage from the club, you pulled your punches, and when I tell someone to do something that means that they are to do it, and not hold anything back." Adder replied sternly as he pushed The Flash off of him and began pacing the room.

"So, you wrecked Joe's life just to punish me?"

"Yes, because I need to know you are under control." Adder stated nonchalantly with a wave of his hand.

"Why is this so important to you, if you are trying to make the city a better place, why do you have to control everything I do? You claim you want the same things I do, but then you try to control how I go about it, what do you care how I get the job done, as long as the job gets done?" The Flash demanded as he turned to face Adder.

"Fine, I am going to tell you a story kid, and maybe this will teach you the importance of control and knowing everything that is going on around you." Adder stated with a sigh.

"I don't need to hear a story from you." The Flash spat out.

"Oh, but I think you will like this one and it will teach you the importance of keeping in control and why information is the basis of control." Adder replied smugly. The Flash wanted nothing more then just to get out of there but then he remembered the reason he was there in the first place, Joe, and he remembered all the things Joe had done for him growing up and he decided that if listening to Adder ramble on was his best shot at getting him to call off the lawyer, he would just have to put up with it.

"You see this story is about a boy who lost everything, not unlike yourself, and the lessons he learned from that loss." Adder began still sounding very smug about having a captive audience. It occurred to The Flash to wonder why Adder was telling him all of this, never the less it was a chance to get some information on his foe and if he was so full of pride that he would give it out freely The Flash decided he had no problem with letting it be his fall.

"This boy had a mother and a father and they were both nice people and treated him well, despite his father working for the local mob since he was a teenager." Adder continued. "This boy was also suffered from asthma, so he didn't go outside a lot like the rest of the kids, instead he stayed inside and read and he heard things, things his parents and the other adults didn't know he heard because they would ignore him and assume he was too young to understand what they were talking about when they talked about these things. The boy's father become the connection for the mob between the people who smuggled drugs into the country and the dealers on the street, everything was going well for the boy and his family, the dealers got their drug, the mob took a cut, and everyone was happy. Everyone that is except the mother, it seems she wasn't happy with just being rich, she wanted some excitement in her life, so she started to have an affair with the biggest pusher on the streets. Now doing well for so long and being the trusting and loving sort deep down the father didn't suspect a thing, but the son knew, but the father being who he was, he refused to believe his friend or his wife would do this to him. That is when the boy learned the importance of having all the information you can have and keeping records that can prove it, and around this time, when he was thirteen, he discovered computers and he saw that they would be the greatest tools for gathering and cataloging information that mankind would ever create, you with me so far?"

"Yes, but I still don't see how this explains why you burned Joe." The Flash spat out as he was becoming annoyed with this tripe.

"I am getting to that." Adder insisted. "Well the dealer used the mother to find out who the people smuggling the drugs into the country were and then they cut the father and by extension the mob completely out of the picture by making a deal directly with the smugglers, this left the mob very angry with the father and one night they invited him to a dinner to have a talk with him about how he had let things get out of control and how the pushers were making more money than the mob. The father was never seen alive again after that night." Adder stated gravely.

"What happened to the boy and his mother?" The Flash asked and he knew he most likely didn't want to know the answer.

"Well the mother shacked up with the dealer, but the boy could never forgive her, or let her get away with what she had done to his father. So he gathered all the information on his mother and her new boyfriend's activities and pretended he had no idea what they had done, he also used his first computer to find out all he could about the gas pipes that ran under his house and waited for a time when he knew his mother and her boyfriend would be home and he went to the movies, while he was at the movies the gas pipes under his house just happened to explode and take the house, mother, and boyfriend out."

"What?!" The Flash asked as a chill ran right down his spine at this last confession.

"Yes, you see just like the father's lack of knowledge and control over his wife killed him, so the mother's lack of knowledge and control of her son led to her own death. The boy then went into the foster care system and then to college where he learned everything he needed to know in order to become the world's biggest tech giant and all of this just became a tragic back story for his autobiography as far as the public was concerned, his life was nothing more then a series of tragic missteps by his parents that he rose above, like a phoenix. Now you see why I will never risk having a lack of knowledge about anyone or anything and I will keep total control over everything in my power, and there is nothing much that is outside my power." Adder added with a menacing glare as he said this last part just to make sure The Flash got the point, if he was willing to do this to his own mother, what would he be willing to do to The Flash and his family if they got out of line?

"I still don't see why you went after Joe." The Flash spat out.

"Call it a warning shot." Adder stated with a fake friendly smile. "A demonstration of what can happen to you and yours the next time you don't follow my orders exactly, next time no holding back and waiting for someone else to save you, I am the one with the power and I will always be in control. now if you are a good boy I may tell the lawyer to go for a plea bargain and that should take some of the pressure off of Joe West, do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand." The Flash almost whispered through clenched teeth as he turned to leave and then Adder added.

"Oh and one more thing I notice a lot of your computers over at S.T.A.R Labs as well as your phones have been going off line recently, please get those fixed as soon as you can, because as I just showed you a lack of information is a dangerous thing, and I don't like danger. So get those fixed, got it?" Adder asked smugly.

"Yeah, I got it." The Flash replied and he had rarely felt lower in his life as he flashed away.

 **Okay sorry it has been so long but this time there will be no more delays between chapters because I can't afford it. I am sorry this chapter took so long but I knew what had to happen in it, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to do it and I know it is not very good and I am sorry this chapter is so short, but I also got a little depressed in the days leading up to my birthday, then I had an awesome birthday where among other things I got a picture of Godzilla autographed by the first actor to play Godzilla from my father, and a Spider-Girl comic autographed by Tom Deflaco, so that went well, then I got tied up with my dad's birthday, and finally I got a little depressed again when I was rewatching season four of Eureka and noticed that I must have gotten the basic idea for this story and even some of the details from Henry's arc in season four of that show and I wasn't sure if I should continue this story or not, in the end I decided it is enough of it's own thing to warrant keeping it up.**

 **Oh and I took time out to see Wonder Women and Logan, both awesome movies and I am sure one of them will be my favorite super hero movie of the year when all is said and done.**

 **So in short a lot of stupid things got in the way of this chapter because I am an idiot, sorry.**

 **Thanks for hanging in there and the next chapter will be up tomorrow and new chapters will be coming every day except Sunday from now on and the chapters will be much longer then this one. To tell the truth I cut this chapter in two just because I wanted to get it posted before more then two weeks had past since my last posting.**

 **Well thank you for reading, following, favoriting, PMing, and reviewing, despite my many problems.**

 **As always you guys are the best. :)**


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

"Caitlin are you worried about what we could become in the future?" Caitlin heard Cisco ask as he swiveled in his chair to face her, but all she let him see was her back, she had heard his question but she was too lost in her own thoughts to respond at that moment. Caitlin next felt a hand on her right shoulder and this broke her out of her haze and she turned her chair around quickly to face Cisco.

"What is it?" Caitlin demanded and she noticed that the words escaped her mouth sounding far more harsh then she had intended them to.

"Hey, I was just asking you a question, I wasn't trying to make you angry." Cisco replied defensively.

"Sorry." Caitlin offered with a sigh as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like Psi?" Cisco asked putting aside his own problems for a moment.

"Well she is one of things that I was thinking about." Caitlin said with out adding that the women was not exactly the thing that had her distracted a moment ago.

"I hope Barry can win her over to our side and she stops lashing out at him." Cisco said with a thoughtfully look on his face.

"Yeah, me too." Caitlin agreed, she didn't like the way the older women had treated Barry, but there was still something about her that made Caitlin want to help her.

"Because despite her tempter, she is kind of hot." Cisco stated and he was getting that far away look in his eyes that Caitlin had seen all too many times since they had started working together.

"Really, Cisco?!" She asked with disbelief. "She must be a decade older then you!"

"That doesn't change the fact that she is hot." Cisco stated as if he couldn't see the problem with the situation, this just earned him an eye roll from Caitlin. "Hey, you have Barry what is wrong with my trying to find someone?" Cisco then asked defensively.

"About that if you were going to tell someone what Barry and I are to each other, what would you tell them?" Caitlin asked as she lost focus on what had been the topic of discussion because Cisco's words brought her back to what had been distracting her.

"Husband and Wife?" Cisco offered weakly and it clear he was a little uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

"No, you see that is what we were before Flashpoint, but now what would you call us?" Caitlin asked, repeating her question.

"Well you are going to get married at some point, again, so I guess you are back to being fiances." Cisco stated and then added as he squirmed in his seat. "Look I am not really good with these chick talks, why don't you talk to Iris, because I don't know where you are going with this."

"It's just that I thought we were on the same page, but we haven't set a date for the wedding yet." Caitlin said sounding very confused and lost.

"Barry is just waiting for things to calm down with Adder and Savitar, I'm sure." Cisco interrupted.

"That is what I keep telling myself, but we are never going to have a time when things have completely calmed down, so I am starting to think it will never happen and we will be stuck in this limbo forever." Caitlin stated as she started to sound desperate.

"Well at least you have someone to be stuck in limbo with, that's more than I can say." Cisco replied as he tried to make her see the bright side of her situation.

"Still ever since I tried to kill him, it's like things have changed and I can't help myself, I keep acting like we are married because I think I need my husband right now, and Barry keeps pushing me away because he doesn't see us that way anymore, we are drifting apart again. The worst part is that I am not one hundred percent sure if it is me or Killer Frost doing this, because she was rather aggressive in that department." Caitlin tried to explain.

"Okay, please talk about this with Barry, because you just told me way more then I ever wanted to know about my two best friends." Cisco said with as his eye went wide with alarm and he placed his fingers in his ears. This at least got a smile from Caitlin.

"Okay, I'll talk to him, you don't have to worry about me saying anything else you don't want to hear." Caitlin said with a sigh, and this caused a look of relief to pass over Cisco's face as he removed his fingers from his ears. "Now what were you trying to talk to me about, before we got distracted with my problems?" Caitlin asked and in a way she was glad Cisco wasn't trying to give her the advice she had asked for, because thinking about it, no matter what he said she wasn't sure she would be able to follow his advice any way.

"I was just wondering if you are as scared that you will become Killer Frost as I am that I will become Reverb some day." Cisco said quietly and he looked a little ashamed of himself for having this thought.

"It terrifies me, I have nightmares about it and it is always there in the back of my mind and I even had an attack the other day when I forgot to plug in the cuffs to recharge." Caitlin admitted and she was grateful that she seemed to have someone else who understood exactly what she was going through sitting right next to her.

"Same here." Cisco admitted and the look of shame didn't leave his face. "How did you handle the attack?"

"Well I am pretty sure you don't want the exact details, but I will say that this is the main reason Barry has been staying at our place overnight, he helped me get it under control." Caitlin answered with a small smile and Cisco grimaced when she mentioned Barry staying over again. "Nothing has happened between us, because Barry will not let it happen, but just having him there helped." Caitlin explained quickly.

"I have tried twice to use my powers and both times it was like there was this voice in my head that I couldn't fight off, that nearly took over and it would have if I had not got my cuffs back on in the nick of time. This is beyond scary and I keep having nightmares about that night and how I almost killed Iris." Cisco admitted and he was looking down at the floor.

"Well then I guess it is a good thing we don't need to use our powers in the near future. I mean even if Barry wants to go to Earth 2 again you don't have to use your powers, you can just set up the speed cannon again, and I can't think of a situation where I will need my cold powers. So we don't have to use them ever again, so I am sure this will get less scary as we get farther away from it." Caitlin stated as she tried to sound optimistic.

"That is just it, what if we do need them?" Cisco asked with a worried look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked as she was unsure where Cisco was going with this line of thought.

"Well we already saw that Savitar is way too much for Barry to handle on his own, but he ran when you froze him, and he has not been seen or heard from since, what if the only way to defeat him is to work as a team and use our powers, do you think we could risk that?" Cisco asked gravely.

"I don't think I could, I mean the last time I used my powers I tried to murder Barry, I can't risk that happening again!" Caitlin said firmly and there were tears forming in her eyes.

"Even if it was the only way to save Barry?" Cisco asked. "Because you are my best friend and I have to say I am not sure I could resist using my powers if it was the only way to save you, and that is what scares me the most, that I can't say for sure I wouldn't turn to the dark side."

"Yeah, that scares me too, and you are right, I can't promise I wouldn't do it to save Barry." Caitlin admitted as her voice became very small.

"Not being able to trust myself is not something I have any idea how to deal with." Cisco said sadly.

"We need to figure out what is going on inside our heads, but I don't have a clue where to start." Caitlin agreed.

"Maybe this is one of those times when having a psychic on our team could come in handy." Cisco stated as he reached over for the piece of paper Psi had left on the desk earlier that day.

"You really want to invite a stranger to come here and poke around inside our heads?" Caitlin asked with disbelief all over her face.

"I don't want to, but if she can help us get a handle on things, then I am willing to use her." Cisco stated firmly as he pulled out his cellphone and he caught the disapproving look that Caitlin was sending his way. "Look it may be the only way we have to make sure you don't go all Killer Frost on Barry some night, don't you want to at least give this a try."

"Alright, make the call." Caitlin said with a nod of her head.

"Good, you will see she will help us get this sorted out." Cisco said with forced cheer and then added. "Who knows maybe one thing will lead to another and she and I may hit it off." This got him an icy stare from Caitlin. "What, it's called multi-tasking!" Cisco said as he dialed the number.

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Barry found Joe sitting silently on the sofa in the living room of the West family home, with a beer in his hand and looking very depressed. This brought Barry's mind back to Flashpoint, where Joe had been a depressed drunk who was about to lose his job, was the same thing about to happen to Joe in this timeline too? Suddenly Barry felt even more guilty then he already did, he had to stop Joe from going down that road again, he had to let Joe know that this wasn't his fault, none of it was, it was all Barry's fault and he wouldn't let Joe blame himself for it.

"It's not your fault, you know that right." Barry stated cautiously as he took a seat in the chair that sat catty corner and in front of the sofa so he could look Joe in the face as he spoke, Barry wouldn't look away, no matter how painful it was to watch Joe go through this.

"The hell it isn't!" Joe replied with almost a shout. "This is one thing you can't take any of the blame for son. Every cop knows to stay away from cases that are personal to them, I knew exactly what I was doing when I stepped into that interrogation room, and I knew it was wrong and broke every rule I had sworn to uphold, and now I am paying a price for that. I screwed up and I know you think everything that goes wrong is your fault Barry, but this isn't so don't you dare start feeling guilty because of my mistake." Joe stated firmly as he looked Barry in the eyes.

"No, but this is." Barry insisted. "Adder is the one pulling the strings on this, because I wouldn't take out someone he wanted me too, I will not let you get in trouble for this, Adder said that if I do what he says next time he will make this all go away, so that is what I will do, I am sorry I put you through this." Barry explained brokenly. Joe's response to this was not what Barry expected at all.

"Barry, you can't do that." Joe objected.

"I don't have a choice." Barry stated.

"Yes, you do." Joe insisted.

"I don't see one, either I stop trying to out smart Adder or you are going to lose your job and maybe go to jail." Barry said standing up.

"Listen to me Barry." Joe pleaded earnestly. "I have seen a lot of cops go bad in my time, and to a lot of them the first step seemed like it was the only choice. I can't have this happen to you, you need to keep yourself clean, not make deals with trash like Adder."

"But then what will you do?" Barry asked and he was clearly still determined not to let Joe go down for what he saw as a mistake he made.

"I will face up to the consequences of my actions." Joe stated as he placed the beer down on the coffee table.

"The only reason you took those actions was because I created Flashpoint!" Barry yelled as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Listen to me, I am not going to get into a debate with you over time travel, or who would have done what and when, but what I will tell you is that if you do start working for Adder or let him in any way control you, then I will will turn myself in to Internal Affairs, and I will plead guilty. So if you want me to get out from under this, you had better use that brain trust of yours back at S.T.A.R Labs to put the plan from earlier today into action, you got that?!" Joe stated and Barry could tell there was no way he could argue with Joe, the detective's mind was made up.

"But what will happen to you?" Barry asked as his voice cracked.

"Well hopefully you will take down Adder before I can have anything happen to me beyond a suspension or demotion, you take him down fast and everything will be okay." Joe stated.

"Okay, I will get right on that, he is going to pay." Barry stated with determination in his voice and then he flashed out of the house.

Barry came to a stop into the entrance of S.T.A.R Labs where he found things to be a complete mess as a lot of half finished projects were lying a round, new walls and booths were going up, complete with wiring and he could see Wally and H.R working together on the project that was the S.T.A.R Labs museum.

"Hey B.A, what are you doing here?" H.R asked as he noticed Barry come to a stop in front of him, and Wally stopped his super speedy construction to come and asked Barry the same question.

"Don't call me that, H.R." Barry said before continuing. "I am here to see if you two could use another pair of speedster hands." Barry explained.

"Well..sure..we could always use the help of The Flash." H.R stated with a smile but he looked a little confused.

"Shouldn't we be looking for a way to get my dad out of trouble instead of messing around here?" Wally asked sounding a little annoyed and Barry couldn't say that he blamed him.

"Believe it or not Wally, completing this project may be our best shot at helping Joe." Barry stated.

"Well then, let's not waste any more time, Let's get to work." H.R said with a smile, and he began issuing directions as the two speedsters worked together to try and complete the museum in record time. Barry knew it was only a matter of a day or two at most before Adder would notice he was not following his orders to the letter and Barry didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of that, so he was now determined to spring his plan into motion within that time, he would not rest until Adder was behind bars where he belonged. Adder had started the fight, but Barry Allen was determined to finish it.

 **Okay there is chapter 27, I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **As always thanks for your support and you guys are the best. :)**


	29. Sorry the power keeps going out

**Chapter 28**

It was just after midnight when Caitlin found her way back into S.T.A.R labs, she and everyone else had left around nine O'clock and Barry had said he would be right behind her, but he never came home. At first she thought he had gone to Cisco's or maybe Joe's, but after she couldn't get to sleep she had checked both places and found that he wasn't there, so that is why she found herself in S.T.A.R labs watching Barry continue to work on the museum, he didn't even seem to notice her, maybe that is because he was so tired. No one else would notice this but Caitlin did, his super speed was just a little slower and the way his body moved was not the smooth flash of light that it normally was. She knew what happened, he pushed himself and he lost track of time, she understands why he did it, but she also knew that for his own good he needed sleep, so she was going to make sure he got it.

"Barry!" Caitlin yelled at the yellow flash of light that was streaming all across the room, but she didn't get any response, she wasn't sure if he had not heard her or he was ignoring her. If it was the latter she knew how to deal with that. She noticed that the streak slowed down, just a little when it came to a large tool chest on her right hand side, so she put on her best annoyed face and stepped in front of the tool chest and tried again. "Barry!", this time he came to a stop. He was trying to hide just how tired he was but everything from the way he was just a little bit unsteady on his feet, to his eyes blinking repeatedly as if they were sensitive to the light, to the fact that he was clearly trying to hold back a yawn, gave away the fact that he was dead on his feat.

"Hey Caitlin, what are you doing here?" Barry asked trying his best to sound and look innocent, this just caused Caitlin to become frustrated with the speedster standing in front of her and it poured out into her response.

"Barry, could we please not play this game tonight, or this morning, given what time it is?!" Caitlin said with a huff.

"What game?" Barry asked and this just caused Caitlin to become even more annoyed and to place her hands on her hips as she spoke.

"The one where you get so caught up in something you forget that with your unique metabolism you need eat and sleep regularly. I understand that you forgot, but once I get here you know why I am here and then you pretend not to, and I have to argue with you before you will come home and eat and sleep so you don't fall over tomorrow, could we please just skip that game?" Caitlin said and she was sounding more then a little peeved with Barry.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I'll come home." Barry agreed as he looked at her a little puzzled. "Honestly I was so focus on finishing this." Barry motioned to the mostly finished museum with his right hand. "So that I could help Joe, that I lost track of time." He then put his arm around Caitlin and they began to walk towards the door. He then added on a more concerned note. "Are you okay, are we okay?"

"Yeah, I think." Caitlin said with a yawn and she was too tired to really be thinking about what she was saying, because if she had been she wouldn't have put it like that, in words that caused Barry to turn around and look her in the eyes with a very concerned look on his face.

"What do you mean you think?" He asked and there was a bit of panic in his voice as he said the last word. This caused Caitlin to mentally slap herself, she was way too tired to have this conversation but now she had no choice or she knew Barry would never go to sleep.  
"Sorry, I put that wrong." She said and she could tell right away Barry wasn't believing her. "Look I am just really tired, I mean you try spending all day filling out forms for the patent office for one of Cisco's inventions, does he even think about how many parts there are in them before he designs them and just how much hard paperwork that creates? It's not fun!" Caitlin insisted as she threw her hands up in the air and this got a chuckle from Barry.

"Sorry, I didn't think of that when I came up with my plan." Barry said as he held the door for Caitlin and they stepped out into the humid early July air. Then he added. "Just as long as you are sure there is nothing wrong with us."

"Yeah, we are fine." Caitlin half lied because they were mostly fine and she was too tired and the humid weather had just left her in no mood to be able to handle telling Barry that because of some stupid trick her mind was playing on her she had managed to make herself a little unsure of their relationship. He loved her and she loved him, and for tonight that was fine, they could talk about what she really wanted to, some other time. At that moment she just wanted to get home.

"Okay, love you." Barry said as he planted a light kiss on her lips.

"Love you too." Caitlin replied and then Barry picked her up and Flashed them both back to their apartment.

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"Barry, I need to talk to you before you go." Barry heard the voice of Iris call out behind him as he was making his way down to the basement of S.T.A.R labs and to the breach between his Earth and Earth 2. He had his Flash suit on but he pulled down the hood as he turned to face Iris and she looked both worried and frustrated.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked Iris with a smile, and he hated to admit it but Caitlin had been right, he felt much better this morning and about his impending trip now that he had gotten some food into himself and he had gotten his eight hours of shut eye.

"Cisco had his machines make Wally a suit." Iris stated with an angry sigh as she came to a stop and stood in front of Barry.

"Oh, boy." Barry said as he ran his right hand through his hair, he knew where this conversation was going.

"Yeah, and you and I both know now he will want to go out and play hero the first chance he gets, but he is not ready yet." Iris said and her eyes were filled with fear as she added. "Plus if Savitar comes back while you are gone, we both know Wally will be no match for him."

"Yeah, I couldn't even do anything against him." Barry admitted in a hushed tone as he thought back to his encounter with the evil Speedster and the fact that he would have been dead without Caitlin's help. He didn't agree with Iris about holding Wally back from using his speed, because he had no right to talk, but at the same time he had to agree that Wally going up against that monster was one of the worst ideas he had ever heard in his life. He only hoped Savitar would stay away while he was on Earth 2 and that by the next time he showed up, he and his team would have come up with some plan to take him down, because Barry wasn't sure that even his speed would get the job done this time.

"Exactly, and we both know Wally, he will just charge in headfirst at whatever Savitar is, and I can't lose him like that, Dad can't lose him like that!" Iris insisted and she was sounding just a little panicked.

"Look." Barry said calmly, trying to stay in control of his own fears and sense of panic when it came to Savitar. "The odds of Savitar showing up while I am gone for the day are really slim, he hasn't been seen by anyone since that night." He saw this was doing very little to reassure Iris so he added. "Still I will have a talk with Wally, and tell him not to take on Savitar."

"Thank you." Iris said releasing a breath.

"No problem, I am just as scared as you are and I agree, Wally going against Savitar is not a good idea." Barry said with concern in his voice as he and Iris resumed their walk to the basement.

"I still may kill Cisco for making him that suit!" Iris mumbled.

"Just promise me you will wait until after he has helped H.R finish up the museum, I heard he needs his help on those holograms Cisco hates before it will be ready to go." Barry said with a smile trying to lighten the mood.

"I can't promise anything." Iris said as they parted ways as they entered the basement and found everyone but H.R there, including Cisco who seemed to be making some last minute adjustments to the Speed Cannon. Barry saw Wally off to his right and made his was over to the other Speedster, he thought he had come up with a rather clever way of getting Wally to back off the whole hero thing while he was gone, with out making Wally feel like he was being held back from doing what was right, if it worked Barry would be extremely pleased with himself for coming up with it on the fly.

"Hey Wally, can I talk to you?" Barry asked calling Wally over to a corner of the basement where no one else could hear what they were talking about it.

"Sure." Wally said and once they were in the corner with their backs to everyone else Wally began to talk excitedly. "Did you hear, I have a suit now, don't worry I will keep things under control until you get back."

"Yeah, that is what I wanted to talk to you about." Barry said with his voice just above whisper. "Look Wally right now Adder is a huge threat, so I need you to help H.R complete the museum so it is ready to go in two days and we don't have to delay the opening."

"Gotcha." Wally replied with a nod. Barry then added more gravely.

"Also Savitar is another massive threat, and he seems to have something personally against me, and I think he may come after Caitlin, Iris, or even Joe to get to me." Barry said as he let a look of concern pass over his face and Wally responded with a look of understanding on his own face. "So if he does come back while I am gone I need you to promise me something."

"What is it?" Wally asked.

"I need you to promise me that if he does come back you will get them all to safety, just grab them all and run. I need to know that they, including Caitlin will be safe, and the only way I can know that is if they are as far away from him as they can get, I am counting on you not to fight him, but to do something more important and get the women I love to safety, can you do that?" Barry asked gravely.

Wally clearly didn't like the idea of running, but he seemed to understand Barry's concern so he nodded and added. "You can count on me, Barry. Savitar will not get near Caitlin or any of the rest of them as long as I am here."

"Great that is exactly what I needed to hear." Barry said as he turned back around to face the room.

"Then once you get back we can start training to double team that Savitar thing." Wally said and he was sounding excited again and Barry didn't like the sound of it but the problem as it had stood had been dealt with so he wasn't going to get into an argument with Wally over something like that, not when the rest of the talk had gone so well.

"Yeah." Was all Barry said as he walked away and made his way over to Caitlin.

"Hey, are you sure you don't want to come with me instead of staying here and letting Psi mess with your mind?" Barry asked Caitlin softly and Caitlin could tell he was only half joking.

"For the last time I am sure it will be fine, I don't think she wants to hurt us." Caitlin said as she put her arms around Barry's neck.

"Yeah, just me." Barry noted grimly.

"Well maybe if we show her that we trust her then she will stop being angry with you." Caitlin smiled optimistically, but Barry seemed to see right through the forced smile and know she was only saying this to try and make him feel better.

"I'm serious, I agree with what you said yesterday, I don't like the idea of you letting her poke around inside your head." Barry said gravely and this caused Caitlin to look up into his eyes and her voice left little doubt that she understood the gravity of the situation.

"Okay, truth be told I don't like it either, but I like the idea of not knowing what is going on inside my own head even less." Caitlin explained and then added on a more emotional note. "I want us to have a future together, and we can't have that if I can't trust my own mind."

"Is that how we ended up completely turned around when it comes to Psi, and why you are doing this, because you think I don't trust you?" Barry asked with alarm and then added. "Caitlin I trust you, and we have this under control."

"No, I am doing this because I don't trust me, and we don't have it under control." Caitlin replied forcefully.

"We have made sure nothing bad happens every time you have an attack." Barry protested, he was now voicing every argument he had been too tired to voice earlier that morning when Caitlin first told him of her plan. He may have wanted to help and even win over Psi, but that was a long way from being okay with her looking around and maybe even playing games with Caitlin's brain.

"See we are treating the symptoms but ignoring the underlying cause." Caitlin said as she removed her hands and switched to doctor mode. "I can't live with not even knowing what that is, I can't live with having to plug into a wall every night, and I really can't live with the idea that if I lose control for a minute I could end up hurting you. I know this is a risk, but I have to take it and I need you to understand and support me." Caitlin's eyes took on a pleading look as she said this last part and this more then anything else caused Barry to cave.

"I get it, you have to do something, just please don't take any chances." Barry said with a sigh.

"Well I will be doing this in a room where Adder can see and hear everything. This whole place is now giving me the creeps, I am glad we don't have any cameras in here at least." Caitlin said with a shutter and this caused the full gravity of their situation to really hit home for the couple.

"Adder will be gone soon, I hope." Barry said as he tried to sound reassuring.

"I hope so too, because I don't know how much longer I can live like this." Caitlin said. "I mean this place is the only place we are safe because it is a dead zone for cellphones and there are no cameras, I am sick of being spied on all the time." Caitlin agreed, sounding more and more upset as she voiced the full size of pickle they were in, out loud for both of them to hear for the first time.

"The speed cannon is ready to go!" Cisco called out from across the room.

"Thanks." Barry said as he turned his head to face his friend he then pulled his mask over his face and returned his attention to Caitlin. "There is one more thing, if Savitar shows up while I am gone I need you to promise me you will run and get as far away from him as you can." Barry stated gravely.

"But then he could be waiting for you here when you come back, and there will be no way to warn you!" Caitlin protested.

"Look, I need to know you will be safe, so please, Promise me you will do this." Barry pleaded.

"Alright, I promise." Caitlin agreed as she looked down at the floor.

"This will all be over soon, I promise." Barry said as he planted a kiss on her cheek and then added. "I love you." as Caitlin looked up into his eyes, he then then dashed off at super speed and into the breach, his next stop was Earth 2.  
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No matter how many times you do it there is no getting used to the feeling of traveling to another Earth. First there is getting there, the feeling is akin to running in a wind tunnel going full blast that is filled with water, while the only things you can see and hear are pictures from a TV that someone else is very quickly channel surfing on. Then when you get to the other Earth it tends to feel like you are playing Candy Land, on the board from Risk, with game piece from Monopoly. You know everything there, but they just don't seem to belong together and it leaves you feeling completely lost and confused and unsure if you should even try playing the game at all at this point.

The Flash found himself in the basement of Earth 2's S.T.A.R Labs and he took in the surroundings and it was then that he noticed that he had a bit of a problem, a large see through door with a metal frame, that was placed at the entrance to the room was closed and upon closer inspection The Flash found that it was locked. At first this didn't seem to be a problem to him as he tried to phase through it, but all three times he tried it, this just would not work. It was then that the Flash figured out that the transparent material that the door was made of must have been an improved version of the glass Zoom had once used to imprison him, it was no doubt a new safety feature Wells had installed to control the comings and goings of Meta-Humans between the two Earths and under any other conditions the Flash may have approved or at least found it clever, but at the moment it was standing between him and part of the solution to his problems, so all he felt was frustration and anger, and it was in this spirit that he began pounding on the glass and yelling, hoping someone would hear him and let him get on with the job in hand.  
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"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Psi asked guardedly as she stepped inside the medbay with Cisco and Caitlin.

"You don't have to worry, Barry isn't here." Caitlin said pointedly and she was reminded of why she hadn't liked the older women when they had first met the previous day.

"Oh, where did your husband go?" Psi inquired.

"Not that it's any of your business but it is far away and he will not be back any time soon, so you don't have to worry." Caitlin answered and she was trying not to let her anger show, after all hadn't she just been telling Barry that they needed to earn this women's trust so they could help her? Yet every time she was in the same room with Psi she felt her anger rise, she just couldn't understand what kind of a person would have a problem with Barry or attack him the way this women had.

"So I can be long gone before he gets back, good." Psi responded and she seemed to relax a bit, but she was still looking around the room like a cat full of nervous energy waiting for the chance to run if she heard or saw something she didn't like, and Caitlin was once again forced to wonder what this women had been through that left her in this condition.

"Yes, if that is what you want." Caitlin answered and she found herself gritting her teeth.

"Alright, don't worry it is only your husband I have a problem with and I promised I wouldn't attack him, so you have nothing to fear from me, Caitlin." Psi stated and it was in a tone that Caitlin guessed was as close to being friendly as she ever got.

"Well if you have a problem with him, you have a problem with me." Caitlin stated and at that moment she could have slapped Psi. How could the women not understand that she and Barry were a package deal and that you didn't get one without the other? She had after all read Barry's mind at least, so she should have seen that in Barry's mind, that is if that was the way Barry still felt about them.

"Okay, no need to get all hostile we are all on the same team." Cisco said with a forced smile as he stepped inbetween the two women and he then turned his attention and his smile to Psi. "So I see you are wearing a new hoodie, and it is red, that looks like the same shade of red I use for The Flash's costume. I like it."

"It's just something I happen to own." Psi stated dismissively, this however did not deter Cisco who continued to try and make small talk.

"I see, well if you ever want someone to make you a real costume, in any colour, I'm your man." Cisco said making his smile wider.

"I don't need help from you, and I don't want it." Psi said, and she was looking annoyed.

"I know you don't need it, but we are going to be working together and I just thought I would offer, I can think of a few better ways to conceal you identity than a hoodie and gloves." This drew an angry glare for Psi and Cisco quickly added. "Not that there is anything wrong with what you have on now, it is great. It's just most women would like some options or something to wear besides hoodies and gloves."

"Well I am not most women." Psi stated firmly.

"Okay, you are your own women, I can respect that." Cisco said backing off. "Still if you ever change your mind the offer still stands."

Caitlin then watched with surprise as Psi stepped around Cisco and made her way over to her, and she didn't seem to be angry at all, on her guard?, Yes, but not angry. "So do I take it this place is now bugged and we can not talk about certain things freely?" Psi asked almost pleasantly.

"Yeah." Caitlin confirmed with a confused nod of her head and then she added. "That isn't why we asked you to come today."

"Why did you ask me to come then?" Psi inquired.

"We need you to read our minds." Cisco explained excitedly.

"I don't get it, yesterday you couldn't stand the idea of me touching your minds, let alone reading them, and today you want me to read them, what changed?" Psi asked and the way she said it was brusque, but again to Caitlin's surprise it wasn't really angry at all.

"Well Caitlin was the one with the problem, you can read my mind any time." Cisco flirted and this got nothing but annoyed looks, so he quickly moved on. "Both Caitlin and I are worried about why we are acting the way we are now that we have these gifts, and we are both hearing voices in our heads, so we would like your help in figuring out what is going on in them, because we don't want to risk more incidences like we had in the past." Cisco explained.

"Really?" Psi asked and there was a look of disbelief on her face that Caitlin couldn't quite think of an explanation for.

"Really." Caitlin answered firmly and this seemed to cause Psi to relax.

"Okay, I will help you." She said with a look of understanding on her face as she turned her attention to Caitlin and looked at her. "Still you are going to have to let me read your mind for this to work, I will try not to read your personal thoughts but if I am going to understand why you are hearing voices, then you will have to let me read thoughts you may not be comfortable with other people knowing, passing thoughts that you would normally never act on, are you okay with that?" Psi asked.

"Yes, if it helps solve this problem." Caitlin answered and she didn't let any of her private reservations show on her face.

"Alright, but you know I will have to read your minds while you are using your gifts, right?" Psi asked as she looked from Caitlin to Cisco.

"Yeah, we understand." Cisco answered.

"I understand, I don't like taking the risk, but at least it is in a controlled setting this time." Caitlin responded after giving her options a few moments of thought.

"Okay, then which one of you wants to go first?" Psi asked.

"I'll go." Caitlin piped up before Cisco could say anything and she removed the cuffs from around her wrists. "I seem to have better to control of my Gifts." She explained as she used Cisco's code word for their powers. "So there is less danger with me, and if you find out what is going on in my mind then maybe you will not have to take the chance with Cisco."

"Are you sure?" Cisco asked as Caitlin sat down on the bed and tried to prepare herself for Killer Frost to try and take over her mind.

"Not really, but it's too late to do anything about it now." Caitlin said nervously.

Psi then pushed past Cisco so she was the one standing in front of the bed, and when she spoke it was in an oddly soothing tone of voice that Caitlin didn't think the women was capable of having. "Okay, Caitlin I want you to lay back and close your eyes and just relax and let whatever is going to happen happen, I think that is the way it will work best."

"Okay." Caitlin said as she followed the instructions and already she could feel and hear Killer Frost trying to claw her way out of the little cage in the back of her mind into which Caitlin had stuffed her alter ego. "I can feel her, I am fighting her but I am not sure how long I can hold out." Caitlin reported and then as a white mist started to come off of her she fought back with everything that was in her, using every positive thought she could come up with and she found herself holding her own against the serial killer her own mind seemed to want her to become. "Are you getting anything?" Caitlin asked Psi desperately.

"Yeah, I am getting something." Psi reported and she was sounding a little overwhelmed herself. "It's like nothing I have ever felt before, I am not sure what this i..." then she broke off and opened her own eyes. She then pointed to a tray with two small dime sized objects in it. "Cisco grab those and put them on Caitlin's temples, and the turn the monitor around so she can see it, I want to see if she agrees with me about this." Psi ordered and Cisco was in too much of a state of shock to argue and he just did as instructed with out a word and when he had he then took a look at the monitor just as Caitlin opened her eyes to see for herself.

"Is that what I think it is?" Caitlin asked shocked and then cried out in pain as her eyes started to turn blue. "This is my body now!" The voice of Killer Frost called out, but before she could do anything to everyone's shock Psi had replace the cuffs on Caitlin's wrists, as she did so she was quick and firm but careful not to harm Caitlin.

"What the hell was that?!" Cisco demanded as he took a step backward from the bed, and his face was turning pale.

"I felt two people in her head, if I am right somehow the psychic energy that made up the personalities of two Meta-Humans somehow made it into your own and Caitlin's brains." Psi explained and yet she didn't sound like she was panicking at all.

"Yes, that is what I saw on the brain scan." Caitlin agreed as she gasped for air and sat up on the bed, ripping the monitors off of her temples and then stood up off of the bed. "I saw two distinct sets of brainwaves that almost looked the same but not quite."

"Guys I think we should go to the basement to finish this conversation." Cisco advised as he came to his wits, and the two women nodded their agreement.

A few moments later they were in the basement and Cisco continued to talk. "I don't know about you, but I am freaking out thinking of someone else being inside my head." Cisco said to Caitlin.

"Yeah, this isn't multiple personality disorder, this is something new and I have never heard of a case of this before us." Caitlin agreed as she became more and more worried.

"Try not to worry, I know you can beat this." Psi stated firmly and her voice sounded as if she had no doubts about this and she was just stating a fact, like the sky being blue.

"How do you know that?" Caitlin demanded as her panic rose. "If you hadn't put the cuffs on me I would have killed you both."

"No, you would have gotten it under control before that happened." Psi stated calmly and when Caitlin still didn't look convinced she continued. "I saw that in your mind, you are stronger then you think Caitlin and you can beat this, there is no choice if the future you want is ever going to happen, so you will, and I know you will not let Killer Frost harm another person."

"Okay, even if I believed you how did Killer Frost end up in my head?" Caitlin asked as she started to calm down a little.

"I don't have the answer to that." Psi said as a look of what could be shame seemed to pass over her face.

"I think I do." Cisco spoke up. "At least I have a crazy theory. Caitlin and I started to develop powers around the same time, then we both went to Earth 2 where we were present at the deaths of our evil twins who had mastered their powers. What if the fact that they were Metas combined with the different vibrations of Earth 2 caused their brains waves, or psychic energy, or whatever it is Psi reads to make their way into our brains when they died their violent deaths."

"Cisco that's crazy." Caitlin stated.

"No, it not." Psi said thoughtfully. "I don't know everything about my powers or how they work, but I do know that when I read people's minds I feel myself riding a wave of something that they are transmitting into their minds, like a radio wave of some kind. Maybe the waves moved to your minds."

"See." Cisco said pointing at Psi. "The hot Psychic lady agrees with me." This drew disapproving looks from both Caitlin and Psi, and then he began to muse quietly. "Energy can not be created or destroyed, it can only change form. The changed form had to go somewhere, and that somewhere was our own brains."

"If this is true then how are Cisco and I ever supposed to get free of this?" Caitlin asked glumly.

"Well if you fight it off long enough the energy should burn off and you should be back to normal, or at least there should be so little of it left that you shouldn't have any trouble controlling yourself." Psi answered and again Caitlin was shocked by just how calm the older women was about all this, still she was not the one with another person in her head, so maybe that made it easy for her to remain calm and collected.

"So if we just fight them off every time, we will win in the end?" Caitlin asked with a weak smile.

"I am not saying it will be easy for you, but I know you can do it." Psi answered and again there was no doubt in her voice.

"Okay, so we can do this." Cisco said as he took in a breath.

"Okay." Caitlin agreed weakly, not sure if she believed in herself as much as Psi did, but the women seemed to have seen something in Caitlin's brain that convinced her that she could beat this thing, so Caitlin choose to hold on to that hopeful thought. She then turned to Psi. "Thank you for helping us and getting those cuffs on me, I know you didn't want to."

"I have told you before, I would help you two any time." Psi stated as if it was nothing.

"But still not Barry?" Caitlin asked.

"Sorry, I will keep my word to Mister Queen but that is all." Psi said coldly and this drew shocked looks from both Caitlin and Cisco until Cisco then smiled and spoke.

"Of course, you would, you read his mind yesterday."

"No, I would never read the mind of Mr. Queen." Psi said and this caused Caitlin to wonder about several things. First what was this relationship she seemed to have with Oliver who despite being several year younger than her she seemed to refer to as Mister Queen when she wasn't calling him the Green Arrow, and why didn't Oliver tell them who this women was and why he had revealed himself to her. Still Caitlin didn't have long to muse on these thoughts because at that moment a panicked looking Iris West came running down the stairs.

"Quick you guys have to come up here and see what is on the news." Iris said and Cisco and Caitlin both dashed after the reporter and out of the basement, but Psi seemed to take the chance to quietly slip away. When they made it to The Cortex Iris pulled a video up on the monitor. "This was just on channel five." She explained and hit the play button on the media player application. A news anchor with slick black hair then appeared on screen and delivered the following statement.

"Tonight tune into channel five action news where we have received footage and documents that not only will expose the so called hero of Central City, The Flash, revealing who he really is, but we also will expose the fact that he may have been responsible for the Meta-Human attacks that nearly destroyed the city a few months ago, and why he is covering up the identity of a new killer Meta-Human who attacked one of Central City's finest citizens a few days ago. All of this and more on action news at five."

"Oh no." Caitlin gasped out as she felt herself sink to the floor as her legs gave out on her. Then as if that was not trouble enough the Meta-Human alert apps started going off.

"That can't be good." Cisco said as he was the only one in the room who could bring himself to look up at the screens. "There has been a break out at Iron Heights prison." Cisco reported.

"Who?" Caitlin asked as Iris was helping her back up onto her shaky legs.

Then they were all knocked to the ground as the whole building shook with a deafening sound and Caitlin could feel and hear what sounded like an earthquake. She crawled over to Cisco, to try and get his help, she knew what they needed to do, they needed to open a portal and get Barry at once, but she found Cisco had been knock out by the fall to the concrete floor and she couldn't wake him. Her worst fears had come to pass she and Barry were about to be exposed on the news, they were being attacked by an angry Meta, she could feel Killer Frost in the back of her mind trying to take over despite the cuffs, and she was completely cut off from Barry. Caitlin hadn't felt this helpless since Zoom had told her Barry was dead.

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry I have been away for so long, but I was dealing with an attack of depression, the good news is that I am over it now, so you don't need to worry. The bad news is that because of a job placement thing I am doing tomorrow I will not get another chapter up until Tuesday, so sorry about that.**

 **Thanks for hanging in there with me and putting up with the delays, don't worry my goal is still to finish this before the new season begins.**

 **Thanks to everyone who supports this story by reading, favoriting, following, reviewing, or PMing. If I missed responding to anyone's PMs or reviews don't worry, I have not forgotten you and I will be getting to that.**

 **Thank you all, you guys are the best. :)**

 **Oh and I will continue to update no matter what, but it would be nice to hear from you guys and know someone is still reading this. Any way I hope you like the updates and corrections I just made to this chapter, thanks for your support.**

 **Last updated on 10/15/2018**


	30. Chapter 28

**Chapter 29**

The Flash pounded on the glass for what felt like hours, in reality, it was more like five minutes, and he was just about ready to give up and go home when at last the figure of Harry Welles appeared on the other side of the glass. Wells had a puzzled look on his face and then said something, but The Flash couldn't hear anything. Wells then hit a few buttons on a control panel on a work station in front of him and with a loud hiss, the door slid open.

"Sorry about that, it's a security door I had I installed so that I could control the comings and goings of Metahumans between our two worlds, it's an improvement over Zoom's cages and the glass doesn't even let air pass through," Harry explained as The Flash made his way over to him, pulling down his mask as he did so.

"So that explains why you didn't hear me, but don't you have some sort of system to detect when someone enters that room?" The Flash asked as Harry closed the door. "Yeah, but it is still pretty buggy and it didn't tell me you were here for a few minutes", Harry explained and then added. "Why did you say you were here again?"

"I need to find..ah..me", Barry stated.

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Wally West and H.R Wells were working together on the inside of the entrance to the S.T.A.R Labs museum when suddenly they felt the ground shaking beneath their feet.

"What was that?" Wally asked as he steadied himself on his feet.

"Please tell me this city is known for having earthquakes that are so mild that no one gets hurt." H.R said with an alarmed look on his face.

"I have never heard of Central City having an earthquake", Wally responded just as the whole building started to shake, and a large metal sign came loose from the wall and was falling in the direction of H.R. Reacting quickly Wally used his super speed to shove H.R out of the way just in the nick of time. "If this isn't an earthquake, then I think we are in trouble." H.R observed. Wally flashed to the front door and then reported back.  
"There is trouble alright, it's Geomancer."  
"Who?"  
"A Meta-Human who attacked last year, my sister told me about him", Wally explained and then added excitedly. "I'll be right back." About thirty seconds of shaking later Wally returned in the Kid Flash costume Cisco had made for him. "Okay, I'm ready to go." He said with a smile.  
"Whoa, wait didn't you promise B.A you would get Caitlin and the others to safety?" H.R asked confused.  
"That was only if Savitar attacked and I don't see him anywhere around here, if my sister could handle Geomancer I am pretty sure a speedster can", Wally said and then before H.R could respond he flashed out of the building and into the parking lot out front where Geomancer stood using his powers to send shockwaves through the ground, causing little earthquakes throughout the parking lot. Wally noticed a couple of news choppers overhead. "Great, Kid Flash's first battle will be caught on the news!" He thought to himself.  
"Hey, would you mind not wrecking my friend's lab?!" Wally Yelled at Geomancer.  
"Where is The Flash?" Geomancer demanded.  
"He couldn't make it, but Kid Flash is more than able to take care of garbage like you!" Wally yelled and then he charged forward at super speed. The battle was on.

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The Flash found himself on the Earth 2 version of the street the West house was on once again in his life, only this time it wasn't just the tech that was different, the house was different too. It was brand new, in fact, all the houses on the block were brand new, it was as if someone had come along and knocked down the old houses and put up new ones in their place. The Flash had little trouble figuring out the most likely cause of this change, Zoom. The monster must have torn Earth 2 and Central City in particular apart when The Flash had trapped him there months ago.

Suddenly The Flash felt a pang of guilt as he wondered just how many people had died while he and his friends had spent months sitting back safely on their Earth, ignoring Zoom. Still, he knew that they had done everything they could as soon as they could, there wasn't anything more they could have done. Not that this fact made him feel much better. He suddenly found himself worried that he would not be welcome by Earth 2 Iris and Barry Allen. Be that as it may, he had not come all that way just to turn back, so taking in a breath he slowly walked up the steps to the house and knocked on the door for the screened in porch.

A minute or two of awkwardly standing on the doorstep while waiting for someone to answer later, the door was pulled open and The Flash was greeted by the sight of Iris West-Alen standing in front of him with a very shocked look on her face, clearly The Flash was the last person she had expected to find on her doorstep.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but are you the same person from another universe my husband and I met months ago?" Iris asked as she looked up, studying The Flash's masked face.  
"Yeah, that's me, you two helped me break out of Zooms prison. Those were good times, right?" The Flash replied cautiously.  
"Oh, it's good to see you again, we had no idea what happened to you after we left for Atlantis!" Iris said with a smile, and this caught The Flash completely off guard. "Come in." She instructed and he followed her inside and once he was in the main house he lowered his mask.

"Well, it's good to see you too." The Flash said after being struck dumb for a few moments, he had not been expecting this kind of welcome. "Sorry about your neighborhood."  
"Yeah, it was hard coming back to find that Zoom had trashed everything", Iris said with a sigh. "Still I take it you got him since he and most of the Metas vanished and we haven't seen them again."  
"Yeah, I got them." The Flash said as he looked down at the floor, he didn't feel like giving her the details of how he had gotten Zoom, that was one night he didn't need to ever relive again in his mind.

"So, what brings you here?" Iris asked, finally coming around to the main point.  
"Well, I kind of need Barry's help, I know this sounds strange but there is a problem on my earth that I think only he can help me solve." The Flash answered honestly, and this just drew a puzzled look from Iris before she opened a door that was off to the side of the stairs and seemed to lead down to a basement.  
"Barry, we have company!" She yelled down the stairs. A few second later footsteps were heard and Earth 2's Barry Allen emerged from the basement complete with three piece suit and bow tie.  
"Whoa!" Barry exclaimed in shock as he took a couple of steps back when he saw The Flash. "Is that him?" He asked looking over at his wife who could only nod because she was barely keeping herself from laughing at his reaction.

"Sorry to surprise you like this." The Flash said.  
"No, it's fine", Barry said with a shake of his head. "I mean the last time you turned up here you only kidnapped me, got fresh with my wife, got my father in law murdered, and Zoom trashed my home, but you showing up completely out of the blue like this with no warning, that's just fine."  
"Sorry about that." The Flash said as a look of shame passed over his face, this was more along the lines of the welcome he had been expecting, but he still could not think of anything better to say.  
"Hey give him a break, honey." Iris scolded as she stepped between the two men. "He did take down Zoom, and what happened to dad wasn't his fault." An uncomfortable silence filled the room and then Iris continued a few seconds later. "For the record, I am the one who kissed him, and he was acting really weird the whole time."  
"Okay, I get the picture", Barry said as he and The Flash both winced at being reminded of this last part. "Sorry, I have a team working for me now that things are changing at the CCPD due to Zoom and most of the Metas being gone and the captain keeps telling me I need to be more assertive when dealing with people if I want them to respect me, I apologize if I took it too far", Barry said holding out his hand.

"No, it's fine." The Flash said with a shrug and took the hand that was offered.

"Okay, now that is worked out why don't we move this conversation to the living room, and then you can explain what it is that you need Barry's help with," Iris said with a smile as she led the way into the house.

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Wally West had never felt as alive in his life as he did at that moment. As he charged Geomancer the adrenaline coursed through his veins and the wind whipped through his hair, but there was something else that went along with it, and electric feeling that couldn't be defined, it was the Speedforce. It felt better and more exciting than anything Wally had ever encountered before, it was much better than racing cars. It felt like the rest of the world was standing still and as if Wally had never really been awake before in his life. Wally liked this feeling and there was no way he would ever feel complete again with out it.

Wally was about to hit Geomancer when he felt the ground shake under his feet, he tried to adjust his footing but as he did so a massive wall of asphalt and rock jutted up out of the ground right in front of him. Wally hit the wall head first with a deafening crash, and then the whole world went black.

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"So let me get this straight, you want Barry to come with you to your earth and pretend to be you in order to try and make some dangerous rich jerk look like a fool?" Iris asked as she leaned forward in the chair she was sitting in and fixed The Flash with a hard stare as he sat on a couch across the room from her.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." The Flash affirmed.

"Are you nuts?" Iris asked, clearly shocked. "You just said this guy is dangerous, what if he comes after Barry? If he attacks your S.T.A.R labs? I am not letting my husband die on another earth in a fight that has nothing to do with him.

The Flash let out a sigh. "Look I am sorry I asked this, but it's my only way out of this, and Adder doesn't know that other Earths exist, so this is the one thing I can do that he will not see coming."

"Yeah, but can you promise me Barry will not get hurt?" Iris demanded and The Flash could tell she already knew what the answer to this question was going to be.

"No, of course, I can't. I've learned not to make promises like that." The Flash said as he looked down at his hands, unable to look Iris in the face as he said these words. He then stood up. "I am sorry to have bothered you, I will find another way around this problem."

"I'll do it", Barry said, speaking up for the first time as he stood up out of his chair.

"Are you nuts?!" Iris almost yelled as she looked over at her husband.

"I climbed up a mountain with Killer Frost to Zoom's secret hideout, I think I can handle a couple of days in another dimension" Barry replied unworried.

"This is more than just a couple of days on another earth, you could be in danger", Iris objected.

"I don't think so, it sounds like this Adder guy likes to keep to the shadows, he's a coward. If he comes after me, The Flash will just release everything he knows about him and his coming after me will just make him look more guilty. I don't think he would risk that." Barry explained gently.

"And what if he does?" Iris insisted and then a tear began forming in her eye. "I just lost my father, don't ask me to lose you too."

"You will not", Barry said firmly. "I am scared but I will come back to you. If I stood by when people needed my help, would I still be the man you fell in love with?" Barry asked quietly as he hugged her.

"I fell in love with a lab tech, you weren't supposed to be out helping people, to begin with, you were supposed to stay safe in your lab," Iris said quietly with a sniff.

"Every since The Flash showed up here and I helped him get away from Zoom I learned that I can be more than that, I can help people in the real world and now that I have done it I can't walk away from that, any more than you can so I am asking you to please support me in this" Barry pleaded.

"Okay," Iris said as she pulled away. "I don't like it but I guess this is how you feel every time I go out to arrest a suspect. You are right, I can't ask you to stop. I can, however, ask you to be careful."

"I'm not going to do something stupid, and I will be back here before you even know I am gone", Barry said with a small smile.

"You had better be", Iris said as she leaned forward and kissed him, she then turned her attention to The Flash who was looking very uncomfortable standing by the doorway. "And you had better bring my husband back to me, or you will have to answer to me!"

"I will do my best." The Flash answered and then he turned to Barry. "You ready?"

"Sure", Barry replied with a nervous smile. "Next stop, your earth."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Flash and Barry stepped out of the breach and on the floor of the basement of Earth 1's S.T.A.R Labs only to find the floor shaking and alarms going off.

"That was odd, and is this normal for your earth?" Barry asked as he tried to get his barrings.

"No, we must be under attack." The Flash answered and then before he had time to process this he had to quickly push Barry out of the way as the metal frame of the speed cannon came crashing to the floor and smashed its self into several pieces.

"What was that?" Barry demanded as he tried to make himself heard over the noise.

"That was the speed cannon breaking, it's means that we can't get back to your earth until it is repaired." The Flash explained sheepishly and then a thought struck him. "The police could show up here, you had better look like me if they do." This was followed by a flash of light and a few seconds later Barry found himself in a set of The Flash's street clothes and his own clothes and glasses laying in a pile on the floor.

"Did you just change my clothes using your super speed?" Barry demanded angrily.

"Relax it's not like I was really looking and even if I was you don't have anything that I haven't seen before." The Flash said dismissively. The Flash had other things on his mind, like finding out who was attacking S.T.A.R Labs and why.

"It's the principal of the thing!" Barry protested.

"I think we have bigger things to worry about right now then why you have a tattoo on your ass." The Flash pointed out.

"Fine, but don't ever do anything like that again", Barry replied sternly.

"Okay, I am going to stash you at Joe's house until the attack is over." The Flash said and he didn't wait for a reply before he was flashing both of them out of S.T.A.R Labs, but he was stopped when he reached the parking lot and saw Wally in a costume slamming head first into a slab of asphalt and rock that had risen out of the ground.

"Finally, I get to take down the real Flash!" Geomancer gloated as he spotted The Flash coming to a halt in front of him.

"You take care of the meta, I'll get whoever he is inside", Barry said as he ran as fast as he could in the direction of Wally's unconscious form. The Flash knew he had no choice, he would have to distract Geomancer long enough for Barry to drag Wally inside of S.T.A.R Labs.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." The Flash replied with a cocky smile, deciding to use Geomancer's pride against him in order to keep him distracted. "You couldn't take down my friends, and now you think you can take me? Did you major in stupidity in college or did you just drop out?"

This caused Geomancer to yell and let loose with another quake that tore a hole in the ground, but The Flash easily side stepped it with his speed. He was distracted for a moment as he looked to see Barry dragging Wally through the front doors of S.T.A.R Labs, this was a mistake as the next thing he knew he was being hit in the face by a large chunk of rock that was flying through the air.

When Barry entered S.T.A.R Labs he noticed a somewhat familiar looking figure rising to his feet after being thrown the floor by the last quake. This figure then made his way over to Barry and took half of Wally's weight and between them, they were now carrying the unconscious speedster.

"You must be this Earth's version of Harrison Wells", Barry observed.

"Sort of, not really. Just call me H.R" The man stated as he led them across the room and towards an elevator.

"Well, whoever this is, he seems to be hurt, is there anywhere we can take him?" Barry asked urgently.

"Yeah, there is a medbay, we just have to take the elevator down to it", H.R explained as they came to a stop in from of the large doors of said elevator.

"Looks like it is coming to us" Barry observed as he watched the numbers displayed above the doors indicated that the elevator was rising.

A few seconds later the doors slid open and a woman who Barry had to remind himself was not his wife and a very shaken man about his age came running out of it.

"We have to run, Killer Frost is right behind us!" Iris warned.

"What?" Barry asked, very confused. This was all just a little too much for him to take in.

A second later he saw the floor to the inside of the elevator freeze solid and then the metal turned brittle and shattered. A moment after that the form of Killer Frost came rising out of the hole in the floor on a pillar of solid ice and stepped out into the lobby. She then fixed her attention on Barry, and she did not look too happy.

"You rejected me, I don't take rejection well." She said angrily and then she let loose with a blast of ice in Barry's direction.

 **Sorry this took so long for such a short update. Part of this was due to my getting back on a schedule and working with a government jobs program, so I have been getting use to living that way again, but now it will be daily updates, even if they are shorter then normal. The other part is just me being lazy and I am sorry. After sixteen years of waiting they finally brought the highspeed lines down the road to my house and I got hooked binge watching all the Marvel shows I had never seen before on Netflix.**

 **I am really sorry about this and if anyone is still reading, you guys are the best.**

 **Also if you noticed my spelling and grammar getting better, that is thanks to great free program I found called Gammarly, it is a huge help with writing this stuff. Well any way, see you tomorrow.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Last updated on 10/15/2018**


	31. Chapter 29

**Chapter 30**

Killer Frost was distracted as she took aim at Barry and this gave both Cisco and Iris an opening, despite the cut on his head Cisco could still think clearly enough to do something. He opened a portal right in front of Killer Frost and the deadly blast of ice vanished into it. At that same moment, Iris West ran into Killer Frost at full speed at the exact same time another quake shook the building. This caused both women to fall to the ground, that was when Caitlin seemed to get control of herself and everyone looked on in surprise as her eyes returned to normal and she stood up quickly and ran out of the building.

Outside in the parking lot, as The Flash recovered from being slammed in the face with a rather large rock, he became aware of three things that seemed to be happening all at once.

The first was that the ground started to crack below The Flash's feet, he dodged this just in time to notice Caitlin running out of S.T.A.R Labs with panic written all over her face.

"Caitlin!" The Flash yelled out as he flashed over to her, he was feeling somewhat panicked himself.

"Stay Away!" Caitlin called out. "Killer Frost took over and I nearly killed Barry Allen from Earth two!"

"But you didn't and that is what is important." The Flash insisted. "Is anyone inside hurt?"

"Wally looks pretty badly hurt and so does Cisco." Caitlin replied and in that moment she switched into doctor mode and forgot all about her troubles, that was exactly what the Flash had been counting on.

The Flash then had to flash them both out of the way of a large piece of asphalt that came flying in their direction. "I need you to take care of them, I know you can handle this." The Flash said as he looked Caitlin in the eye and showed her that he didn't have time to argue.

"Okay, love you." Was the only reply Caitlin gave and then The Flash flashed them both into S.T.A.R Labs and depositing Caitlin there before he rushed back out to deal with the third thing he had noticed.

This third thing was a car that had come to a halt in the parking lot. It was, of course, Joe West's car and he had gotten out on the opposite side of the car from Geomancer, and using the car as cover was pointing his personal handgun at the Meta-human.

"Freeze!" Joe yelled. This caused an evil smile to pass over Geomancer's face as he turned his attention to the detective and caused the ground to start shaking all around the car.

This gave The Flash an opening and he took it. Being very careful where he stepped so he didn't lose his balance on the shaking ground. The Flash began racing around Geomancer at superspeed and began attacking fast and hard before the evil Meta-human could fight back. He began rapidly land blow after blow on Geomancer's kidneys, this caused him to fall to his knees in pain and the ground stopped shaking for the moment, so The Flash leaped up into the and then delivered a finishing punch to his face. While Geomancer was laying there, stunned, The Flashed raced inside S.T.A.R Labs and retrieved a boot gun and fired a boot around Geomancer's leg he then noticed Joe making his way over to him.

"You alright?" The Flash asked.

"Yeah, I am fine, you are the one with the problem. I raced over here as soon as I saw that Adder is going to be blowing your cover at five." Joe explained and he continued to make his way in the direction of Geomancer who was now laying in a badly bruised pile on the ground.

"He's doing what?!" The Flash asked in shock.

"It's all over channel five, they are going to reveal everything on the five o'clock news." Joe explained gravely. He then turned his attention to Geomancer. "How did you get out of Iron Heights?" Joe demanded as he pointed his gun at Geomancer.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Geomancer taunted.

This caused Joe to get in his face and snarl. "I am already facing charges for brutality, and you just threatened my family, so I would think twice before getting smart with me again, dumbass!"

"Fine, it was some guard. He didn't tell me his name, he just said someone big wanted to give me the chance to finish what I started with The Flash." Geomancer stated and then he added with a wicked smile. "It sounds like you both have made a powerful enemy and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now."

"I'd want to be in your shoes even less." Joe responded and then he hit Geomancer hard across the face with his pistol, knocking him out.

"So, it looks like Adder wants me dead because he figured out that he can't control me." The Flash observed grimly.

"We have to get this under control, but I don't know how to begin to stop that story from airing on channel five." Joe agreed. That was when a third voice joined them.

"So did you deal with the Earthquake guy?" Barry asked as he made his way over to them. "Why didn't you tell me you were married to Killer Frost? That's kind of scary."

"She isn't Killer Frost, not really. Her name is Caitlin." The Flash explained as he rubbed his eyes with his right hand.

"Well whatever you call her, she did try and kill me and she wants you inside." Barry replied and before The Flash could reply the sound of police sirens was heard as a small army of police cars pulled up.

"Remember you are me, you own S.T.A.R Labs and we don't need police help inside." The Flash whispered to Barry.

"Okay, I got it." Barry replied nervously as the man in charge of the cops came to a stop standing in front of them and then started to look the situation over. The Flash then after making sure the man saw him, flashed away into S.T.A.R Labs and in the direction of Caitlin.

The Flash found Caitlin in a corner of the first floor of S.T.A.R labs, just out of view of the entrance. He found her with a very disgruntled looking Cisco who had a bandage around his head and a very embarrassed looking Wally who she seemed to have just finished patching up and was laying down on a blow-up mattress.

"Why didn't you take them down to the med bay?" The Flash asked, somewhat confused.

"Because she destroyed the elevator and didn't trust me to walk down the stairs?" Cisco spoke up sounding more than a little annoyed.

"You could have had a concussion, I am now pretty sure you don't, but I didn't want to take any chances. I think I endangered your life enough for one day." Caitlin explained and The Flash could tell from her voice that she was feeling ashamed of herself.

"Sorry I wasn't here to help." The Flash offered weakly, he was feeling like he had let Caitlin down when she needed him the most.

"It's not your fault, or Caitlin's. Psi found that this is almost completely out of our control." Cisco said as he began walking around and picking up pieces of debris that were laying all over the floor.

"What does that mean?" The Flash asked as he looked over at Caitlin.

"Psi found two sets of brainwaves in my and Cisco's heads. It seems our counter parts on earth two ended up in our brains when they died and that is why Cisco and I can't trust our powers." Caitlin explained in a small voice as she led The Flash over to a corner of the room where they could have some privacy.

"Wow." The Flash breathed out as he hugged Caitlin. "Did she have any ideas on how to get Killer Frost out of your head?"

"None." Caitlin replied with a sniff and then she pulled away. "I love you Barry and that is why I have to tell you now that I know what I know, I don't think it is a good idea for us to be together. This isn't just me acting up, I could lose control to a completely different person and kill you and a lot of other people. I think we need to end things between us before that happens." Caitlin had tears coming out of her eyes but she never the less we turning around and walking away.

The Flash, well flashed in front of her. "That isn't an option for me." He said firmly. "I told you we would get through this together and we will."

"But now that we know this." Caitlin began to object but she was interrupted by The Flash.

"It doesn't change anything." The Flash insisted as he grabbed Caitlin's left arm to keep her from running away. "If anything this gives me hope."

"How can this give you hope?!" Caitlin demanded as she turned to face The Flash and there was a fire in her eyes.

"Because I know you are stronger than Killer Frost, and you will beat her in the end. " The Flash stated firmly and then added on a more gentle note. "I have faith in you, Caitlin."

"That's sweet, but faith may not be enough this time." Caitlin said and she broke loose of The Flash's grasp.

"It is for me, Please don't give up on us." The Flash pleaded.

"I'll think about it." Caitlin said with a sigh and then completely changed her tone to all business. "We have a bigger problem to deal with at the moment."

"I know, Joe filled me in on what Adder has done and what channel five is planning to pull." The Flash said gravely and then added on a more hopeful note. "Still maybe the police seeing both me and Barry out there will be enough to stop it from going down."

"Yeah, by the way, thanks for leaving me alone out there to deal with them." Both The Flash and Caitlin turned in the direction of the too familiar voice.

"Sorry, were you able to handle them?" The Flash asked Barry as he walked up to them.

"With a lot of help from Joe, I think they bought it." Barry replied and then looked over at Caitlin. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced."

"I tried to murder you, I think that counts as an introduction." Caitlin replied with out looking up at Barry.

"Yeah, still I don't think you are the killer you were on my world, you seem too nice for that so I am willing to leave that in the past if you are." Barry said awkwardly.

At that moment The Flash would have welcomed any kind of distraction from his current problems, so he decided to make the introductions.

"Caitlin, this is the Earth 2 version of Barry Allen." The Flash said as he motioned to Barry. "Earth 2 Barry Allen, this is my fiance, Caitlin Allen."

The two shook hands and then Barry got a confused look on his face. "I thought you two were already married? Because of the rings and having the same last name and everything. People don't marry their sisters on this planet, do they?"

"Not unless it's Game of Thrones." Another voice piped in and they all noticed that Joe West had joined their little group.

"It's complicated." Caitlin said to Barry, as she bit her lower lip.

"Okay.' Was all Barry said as he turned and looked at Joe, clearly this was all a little overwhelming for him.

"Joe, how did you get here so fast any way? Geomancer was only attacking for a few minutes." The Flash asked.

"Well, I was on my way over here because of what I saw on channel five." Joe explained and then added on a more urgent note. "We have just over four hours before the broadcast, we have to figure out what we are going to do about Adder and how to stop that broadcast."

"Well there were news choppers flying over the parking lot when I was out there and the police did see me, so maybe you don't have to do anything." Barry piped up, trying not to sound nervous.

"I don't know, I think we will still need something very public in order to keep them from running with the story." The Flash said thoughtfully.

"I don't think you will need to worry about that broadcast." The voice of Iris West said as she cheerfully made her way over to the growing group of people, this caused Barry to just freeze in place and he couldn't take his eyes off of Iris. "Is something wrong?" She asked after a moment or two.

"SSsorry, you just look exactly like my wife." Barry stuttered in reply. Now things were becoming too much for him.

"Okay, whatever." Iris said with a shrug and then turned her attention to The Flash. "Channel five just went off the air, no signal, no message, no sound, nothing. It's like someone just yanked the whole stations right off of TV." Iris reported.

"What, Who could do something like that?" Caitlin asked, clearly trying her best to sound more shocked then relieved.

"Maybe it was another Meta-human attack. Geomancer was sent her to distract you, while another Meta attacked channel five?" Joe ventured, looking over at The Flash.

"I don't think so, none of the other stations are reporting anything about that, they are all talking about Geomancer's escape and the attack here." Iris stated.

"Then what is going on?" Caitlin asked clearly speaking for everyone.

"I don't know." The Flash said as he ran his hands through his hair. "None of this makes any sense."

"Well clearly it makes sense to Adder and we need to nail him." Joe said firmly.

"That's just it, this doesn't feel like Adder's plan to me." The Flash stated.

"What are you talking about?" Caitlin asked, clearly upset. "He has been trying to destroy you since you ran into each other."

"No, he has been trying to control me, that is different." The Flash insisted.

"Doesn't feel different to me." Caitlin said pointedly.

"Doesn't mean it isn't different." The Flash began trying to explain. "Exposing me was always the last option for him, and yet now he just does it at the drop of a hat, also Geomancer said someone big let him out of prison."

"See that's Adder!" Caitlin insisted.

"No, it isn't." The Flash stated as if there was no question in his mind when it came to this point. "Look Adder may be twisted and broken, but there is always a logic to what he does that makes sense in his own mind. Breaking a Meta out of prison to kill me just hours before he is blowing my cover makes no sense under any logic." The Flash explained.

"Okay, so if it's not him then who is it?" Caitlin asked.

"I don't know." The Flash admitted.

"He is right." Joe said thoughtfully. "This feels like the work of two or three different people."

"Also why would Adder take channel five off of the air if he was using them?" Iris asked.

"I don't know." The Flash repeated as he shook his head.

"Hey, you know there is only one person who will have the answers to all of this." Joe stated.

"Yeah." The Flash said with a sigh. "I was hoping I would never have to speak with him again, but it doesn't look like I have any other choice. I will have to pay Adder a visit."

"Are you sure that is a good idea, what if this is a trap?" Caitlin asked worried and for the moment they seemed to have forgotten about the other people in the room.

"Then it's a good thing I have you back here to get me out of it." The Flash said with a smile.

"Barry, I'm serious." Caitlin said as she crossed her arms.

"So am I." The Flash said soothingly. "There is no one I trust more to lead my rescue team than you."

"I just hope your trust isn't misplaced." Caitlin said in a small voice.

"It isn't, trust me." The Flash said kissing her, and then he flashed away, but he was only gone for about a minute before he was back with a look of panic on his face.

"Barry, what's wrong?" Caitlin asked in alarm.

"I got to Adder's mansion and the security system was disabled." The Flash explained.

"What about his private security guards?" Joe asked, clearly in detective mode.

"All dead." The Flash answered and this drew a shocked gasp from everyone there.

"All of them? Caitlin asked him, clearly in a state of shock.

"Every single one of them had been slashed to pieces like whoever attacked them was using swords, The body parts and blood where all over the place, and it stank, like they had been dead for hours." The Flash replied as he sank to the floor with his head in his hands. Caitlin joined him and placed a soothing hand on his back as she sat down next to him.

"And Adder?" Iris asked.

"Gone, someone took him." The Flash replied.

"So now we know why the info was released. " Joe said thoughtfully. "Adder failed to check in with whoever his contact was."

"But then who took him, who let out Geomancer, and who took that TV station off of the air?" Barry asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"No, idea." Was all The Flash said with a shake of his head.

"Hey, we will figure this out like we always do." Caitlin insisted.

"Yeah, but to do that I don't think we have any choice, we will have to find and save Blake Adder." The Flash stated and the room fell silent as the full gravity of their situation sunk in for everyone.

 **Hey has anyone here ever seen a blueprint of the TV show version of S.T.A.R labs? Because I could have sworn that the Cortex and Medbay were on the ground floor, but after watching season 3 carefully I have noticed there are scenes of people leaving those locations and then having to wait for an elevator to take them up to the ground floor, so I am now assuming the Cortex and medbay are below ground, which seems like a depressing place to work to me.**

 **Oh and quick note, to help deal with my depression I have been spending time with my family while they are out of school. I will be resuming daily updates on the 28th, sorry to keep you waiting like this, but I think it is for the best as I don't tend to write well while depressed. Thank you for hanging in there.**

 **Any way hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading. :)**

 **Last edited on 10/15/2018**


	32. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Killer Frost was distracted as she took aim at Barry and this gave both Cisco and Iris an opening, despite the cut on his head Cisco could still think clearly enough to do something. He opened a portal right in front of Killer Frost and the deadly blast of ice vanished into it. At that same moment, Iris West ran into Killer Frost at full speed at the exact same time another quake shook the building. This caused both women to fall to the ground, that was when Caitlin seemed to get control of herself and everyone looked as her eyes returned to normal and she stood up quickly and ran out of the building.

Outside in the parking lot, as The Flash recovered from being slammed in the face with a rather large rock, he became aware of three things that seemed to be happening all at once.

The first was that the ground started to crack below The Flash's feet, he dodged this just in time to notice Caitlin running out of S.T.A.R Labs with panic written all over her face.

"Caitlin!" The Flash yelled out as he flashed over to her, he was feeling somewhat panicked himself.

"Stay Away!" Caitlin called out. "KIller Frost took over and I nearly killed Barry Allen from Earth two!"

"But you didn't and that is what is important." The Flash insisted. "Is anyone inside hurt?"

"Wally looks pretty badly hurt and so does Cisco." Caitlin replied and in that moment she switched into doctor mode and forgot all about her troubles, that was exactly what the Flash had been counting on.

The Flash then had to flash them both out of the way of a large piece of asphalt that came flying in their direction. "I need you to take care of them, I know you can handle this." The Flash said as he looked Caitlin in the eye and showed her that he didn't have time to argue.

"Okay, love you." Was the only reply Caitlin gave and then The Flash flashed them both into S.T.A.R Labs and depositing Caitlin there before he rushed back out to deal with the third thing he had noticed.

This third thing was a car that had come to a halt in the parking lot. It was, of course, Joe West's car and he had gotten out on the opposite side of the car from Geomancer, and using the car as cover was pointing his personal handgun at the Meta-human.

"Freeze!" Joe yelled. This caused an evil smile to pass over Geomancer's face as he turned his attention to the detective and caused the ground to start shaking all around the car.

This gave The Flash and opening and he took it. Being very careful where he stepped so he didn't lose his balance on the shaking ground. The Flash began racing around Geomancer at superspeed and began attacking fast and hard before the evil Meta-human could fight back. He began rapidly land blow after blow on Geomancer's kidneys, this caused him to fall to his knees in pain and the ground stopped shaking for the moment, so The Flash lept up into the and then delivered a finishing punch to his face. While Geomancer was laying there, stunned, The Flashed raced inside S.T.A.R Labs and retrieved a boot gun and fired a boot around Geomancer's leg he then noticed Joe making his way over to him.

"You alright?" The Flash asked.

"Yeah, I am fine, you are the one with the problem. I raced over here as soon as I saw that Adder is going to be blowing your cover at five." Joe explained and he continued to make his way in the direction of Geomancer who was now laying in a badly bruised pile on the ground.

"He what?!" The Flash asked in shock.

"It's all over channel five, they are going to reveal everything on the five o'clock news." Joe explained gravely. He then turned his attention to Geomancer. "How did you get out of Iron Heights?" Joe demanded as he pointed his gun at Geomancer.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Geomancer taunted.

This caused Joe to get in his face and snarl. "I am already facing charges for brutality, and you just threatened my friends, so I would think twice before getting smart with me again, dumbass!"

"Fine, it was some guard. He didn't tell me his name, he just said someone big wanted to give me the chance to finish what I started with The Flash." Geomancer stated and then he added with a wicked smile. "It sounds like you both have made a powerful enemy and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now."

"I'd want to be in your shoes even less." Joe responded and then he hit Geomancer hard across the face with his pistol, knocking him out.

"So, it looks like Adder wants me dead because he figured out that he can't control me." The Flash observed grimly.

"We have to do this under control, but I don't know how to begin to stop that story from airing on channel five." Joe agreed. That was when a third voice joined them.

"So did you deal with the Earthquake guy?" Barry asked as he made his way over to them. "Why didn't you tell me you were married to Killer Frost? That's kind of scary."

"She isn't Killer Frost, not really. Her name is Caitlin." The Flash explained as he rubbed his eyes with his right hand.

"Well whatever you call her, she did try and kill me and she wants you inside." Barry replied and before The Flash could reply the sound of police sirens was heard as a small army of police cars pulled up.

"Remember you are me, you own S.T.A.R Labs and we don't need police help inside." The Flash whispered to Barry.

"Okay, I got it." Barry replied nervously as the man in charge of the cops came to a stop standing in front of them and then started to look the situation over. The Flash then after making sure the man saw him, flashed away into S.T.A.R Labs and in the direction of Caitlin.

The Flash found Caitlin in a corner of the first floor of S.T.A.R labs, just out of view of the entrance. He found her with a very disgruntled looking Cisco who had a bandage around his head and a very embarrassed looking Wally who she seemed to have just finished patching up and was laying down on a blow-up mattress.

"Why didn't you take them down to the med bay?" The Flash asked, some what confused.

"Because she destroyed the elevator and didn't trust me to walk down the stairs?" Cisco spoke up sounding more than a little annoyed.

"You could have had a concusion, I am now pretty sure you don't, but I didn't want to take any chances. I think I endangered your life enough for one day." Caitlin explained and The Flash could tell from her voice that she was feeling ashamed of herself.

"Sorry I wasn't here to help." The Flash offered weakly, he was feeling like he had let Caitlin down when she needed him the most.

"It's not your fault, or Caitlin's. Psi found that this is almost completely out of our control." Cisco said as he began walking around and picking up pieces of debris that were laying all over the floor.

"What does that mean?" The Flash asked as he looked over at Caitlin.

"Psi found two sets of brainwaves in my and Cisco's heads. It seems our counter parts on earth two ended up in our brains when they died and that is why Cisco and I can't trust our powers." Caitlin explained in a small voice as she led The Flash over to a corner of the room where they could have some privacy.

"Wow." The Flash breathed out as he hugged Caitlin. "Did she have any ideas on how to get Killer Frost out of your head?"

"None." Caitlin replied with a sniff and then she pulled away. "I love you Barry and that is why I have to tell you now that I know what I know, I don't think it is a good idea for us to be together. This isn't just me acting up, I could lose control to a completely different person and kill you and a lot of other people. I think we need to end things between us before that happens." Caitlin had tears coming out of her eyes but she never the less we turning around and walking away.

The Flash, well flashed in front of her. "That isn't an option for me." He said firmly. "I told you we would get through this together and we will."

"But now that we know this." Caitlin began to object but she was interrupted by The Flash.

"It doesn't change anything." The Falsh insisted as he grabbed Caitlin's left arm to keep her from running away. "If anything this gives me hope."

"How can this give you hope?!" Caitlin demanded as she turned to face The Flash and there was a fire in her eyes.

"Because I know you are stronger than Killer Frost, and you will beat her in the end. " The Flash stated firmly and then added on a more gentle note. "I have faith in you, Caitlin."

"That's sweet, but faith may not be enough this time." Caitlin said and she broke loose of The Flash's grasp.

"It is for me, Please don't give up on us." The Flash pleaded.

"I'll think about it." Caitlin said with a sigh and then completely changed her tone to all business. "We have a bigger problem to deal with at the moment."

"I know, Joe filled me in on what Adder has done and what channel five is planning to pull." The Flash said gravely and then added on a more hopeful note. "Still maybe the police seeing both me and Barry out there will be enough to stop it from going down."

"Yeah, by the way, thanks for leaving me alone out there to deal with them." Both The Flash and Caitlin turned in the direction of the too familiar voice.

"Sorry, were you able to handle them?" The Flash asked Barry as he walked up to them.

"With a lot of help from Joe, I think they bought it." Barry replied and then looked over at Caitlin. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced."

"I tried to murder you, I think that counts as an introduction." Caitlin replied with out looking up at Barry.

"Yeah, still I don't think you are the killer you were on my world, you seem too nice for that so I am willing to leave that in the past if you are." Barry said awkwardly.

At that moment The Flash would have welcomed any kind of distraction from his current problems, so he decided to make the introductions.

"Caitlin, this is the Earth 2 version of Barry Allen." The Flash said as he motioned to Barry. "Earth 2 Barry Allen, this is my fiance, Caitlin Allen."

The two shook hands and then Barry got a confused look on his face. "I thought you two were already married? Because of the rings and having the same last name and everything. People don't marry their sisters on this planet, do they?"

"Not unless it's Game of Thrones." Another voice piped in and they all noticed that Joe West had joined their little group.

"It's complicated." Caitlin said to Barry, as she bit her lower lip.

"Okay.' Was all Barry said as he turned and looked at Joe, clearly this was all a little overwhelming for him.

"Joe, how did you get here so fast any way? Geomancer was only attacking for a few minutes." The Flash asked.

"Well, I was on my way over here because of what I saw on channel five." Joe explained and then added on a more urgent note. "We have just over four hours before the broadcast, we have to figure out what we are going to do about Adder and how to stop that broadcast."

"Well there were news choppers flying over the parking lot when I was out there and the police did see me, so maybe you don't have to do anything." Barry piped up, trying not to sound nervous.

"I don't know, I think we will still need something very public in order to keep them from running with the story." The Flash said thoughtfully.

"I don't think it you will need to worry about that broadcast." The voice of Iris West said as she cheerfully made her way over to the growing group of people, this caused Barry to just freeze in place and he couldn't take his eyes off of Iris. "Is something wrong?" She asked after a moment or two.

"SSsorry, you just look exactly like my wife." Barry stuttered in reply. Now things were becoming too much for him.

"Okay, whatever." Iris said with a shrug and then turned her attention to The Flash. "Channel five just went off the air, no signal, no message, no sound, nothing. It's like someone just yanked the whole stations right off of TV." Iris reported.

"What, Who could do something like that?" Caitlin asked, clearly trying her best to sound more shocked then relieved.

"Maybe it was another Meta-human attack. Geomancer was sent her to distract you, while another Meta attacked channel five?" Joe ventured, looking over at The Flash.

"I don't think so, none of the other stations are reporting anything about that, they are all talking about Geomancer's escape and the attack here." Iris stated.

"Then what is going on?" Caitlin asked clearly speaking for everyone.

"I don't know." The Flash said as he ran his hands through his hair. "None of this makes any sense."

"Well clearly it makes sense to adder and we need to nail him." Joe said firmly.

"That's just it, this doesn't feel like Adder's plan to me." The Flash stated.

"What are you talking about?" Caitlin asked, clearly upset. "He has been trying to destroy you since you ran into each other."

"No, he has been trying to control me, that is different." The Flash insisted.

"Doesn't feel different to me." Caitlin said pointedly.

"Doesn't mean it isn't different." The Flash began trying to explain. "Exposing me was always the last option for him, and yet now he just does it at the drop of a hat, also Geomancer said someone big let him out of prison."

"See that's Adder!" Caitlin insisted.

"No, it isn't." The Flash stated as if there was no question in his mind when it came to this point. "Look Adder may be twisted and broken, but there is always a logic to what he does that makes sense in his own mind. Breaking a Meta out of prison to kill me just hours before he is blowing my cover makes no sense under any logic." The Flash explained.

"Okay, so if it's not him then who is it?" Caitlin asked.

"I don't know." The Flash admitted.

"He is right." Joe said supportively. "This feels like the work of two or three different people."

"Also why would Adder take channel five off of the air if he was using them?" Iris asked.

"I don't know." The Flash repeated as he shook his head.

"Hey, you know there is only one person who will have the answers to all of this." Joe stated.

"Yeah." The Flash said with a sigh. "I was hoping I would never have to speak with him again, but it doesn't look like I have any other choice. I will have to pay Adder a visit."

"Are you sure that is a good idea, what if this is a trap?" Caitlin asked worried and for the moment they seemed to have forgotten about the other people in the room.

"Then it's a good thing I have you back here to get me out of it." The Flash said with a small smile.

"Barry, I'm serious." Caitlin said as she crossed her arms.

"So am I." The Flash said soothingly. "There is no one I trust more to lead my rescue than you."

"I just hope your trust isn't misplaced." Caitlin said in a small voice.

"It isn't, trust me." The Flash said kissing her, and then he flashed away, but he was only gone for about a minute before he was back with a look of panic on his face.

"Barry, what's wrong?" Caitlin asked in alarm.

"I got to Adder's mansion and the security system was disabled." The Flash explained.

"What about his private security guards?" Joe asked, clearly in detective mode.

"All dead." The Flash answered and this drew a shocked gasp from everyone there.

"All of them? Caitlin asked him, clearly in a state of shock.

"Every single one of them had been slashed to pieces like whoever attacked them was using swords, The body parts and blood where all over the place, and it stank, like they had been dead for hours." The Flash replied as he sank to the floor with his head in his hands. Caitlin joined him and place a soothing hand on his back.

"And Adder?" Iris asked.

"Gone, someone took him." The Flash replied.

"So now we know why the info was released. " Joe said thoughtfully. "Adder failed to check in with whoever his contact was."

"But then who took him, who let out Geomancer, and who took that TV station off of the air?" Barry asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"No, idea." Was all The Flash said with a shake of his head.

"Hey, we will figure this out like we always do." Caitlin insisted.

"Yeah, but to do that I don't think we have any choice, we will have to find and save Blake Adder." The Flash stated and the room fell silent as the full gravity of their situation sunk in for everyone.

 **Hey has anyone here ever seen a blueprint of the TV show version of S.T.A.R labs? Because I could have sworn that the Cortex and Medbay were on the ground floor, but after watching season 3 carefully I have noticed there are scenes of people leaving those locations and then having to wait for an elevator to take them up to the ground floor, so I am now assuming the Cortex and medbay are below ground, which seems like a depressing place to work to me.**

 **Oh and quick note, to help deal with my depression I have been spending time with my family while they are out of school. I will be resuming daily updates on the 28th, sorry to keep you waiting like this, but I think it is for the best as I don't tend to write well while depressed. Thank you for hanging in there.**

 **Any way hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading. :)**


	33. Chapter 31

**I'm so sorry, but my life is horrible right now, it is so bad I can't make writing work. I thought I could but I can't, there are no jobs and I can't move, so I never see or talk to people, I just sit all alone all day and I wouldn't be bothering you with this except that it has reached the point where I can't write any more. I just can't wrap my mind around the way people with lives that involve friends, jobs, doing things, and loved ones work. I don't have anything close to that in my life and since all those things cost money and no one will give me a chance because of my age I never will.**

 **I will try to finish this story if I feel better but right now I just can't get a single line of dialog out and I can't think like the people in any of my stories because they and how they live are as alien to me as life forms from another planet. Now if someone wants the outline and to take credit for the story or work with me when it comes to sowing things up I should be able to make that work, but right now I have been working for a week and can't get anything that works on the printed page.**

 **I am really sorry I let you all down, but my life is just that empty and worthless. I should have never started this story in the first place. I am so sorry.**


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